Your 2023 Essendon Bombers season preview is here, just in time for the start of the new AFL season! Everything you need to know about the Bombers is here, all in the one article – aren't you lucky. We’ve got information about squad changes, rankings and stats from last year, key matches to look for, as well as none other than ex-AFL star Heath Shaw’s opinion on how the Bombers will go this season.
Let’s get cracking shall we!
Recruitment Report
Let’s take a little look at the new signings for the Bombers, along with all the players they’ve parted ways with:
Ins: Alwyn Davey Jnr, Jayden Davey, Lewis Hayes, Rhett Montgomerie, Anthony Munkara, Will Setterfield, Elijah Tsatas and Sam Weideman
Outs: Cody Brand, Tom Cutler, Josh Eyre, Aaron Francis, Brayden Ham, Tom Hird, Michael Hurley, Garrett McDonagh, Devon Smith and Alec Waterman
2022 Rankings
Where did the Bombers rank for disposals in the AFL last season? Or what about clangers? All the key rankings for the Bombers are below:
Kicks: 14th
Handballs: 9th
Disposals: 13th
Marks: 9th
Hit-outs: 12th
Frees For: 9th
Frees Against: 15th
Goals: 11th
Behinds: 11th
2022 Stats
Who had the most goals for the Bombers? Who had the most marks? All these stats and more can be found below:
Most Disposals: Zachary Merrett - 572
Most Tackles: Jye Caldwell and Dylan Shiel - 86
Most Clearances: Dylan Shiel - 116
Most Marks: Dyson Heppell - 145
Most Goals: Peter Wright - 53
3 Key Matches To Watch
These are the key matches you can’t miss if you’re a Bombers fan (up to Round 15):
Match 1: Round 1, vs Hawks, at MCG (Sun, Mar 19, 3:20pm)
Match 2: Round 6, vs Magpies, at MCG (Tue, Apr 25, 3:20pm)
Match 3: Round 10, vs Tigers, at MGC (Sat, May 20, 7:40pm)
2023 AFL Season Expectations
It’s not the velvet sledgehammer, but it’s a sledgehammer named Brad Scott. A bit of old school hard training and maybe even a bit of work on the defensive aspect of the game, will make for interesting viewing of the Bombers this year.
They have good bones, but I think a key forward and a key back will be on the shopping list come end of this season. Bombers youth have massive potential (Perkins, Jones, Hobbs, Tstats and Daveys to name a few) and some off season recruits in Setterfield and Weideman having impact could see them sneak into the 8.
Predicted Finish: Between 8-16
