Fast, frenetic ball movement was at the forefront of Essendon’s latest match simulation in the Melbourne heat on Friday morning.

Moving into a 45-minute game split into three periods, the Bombers looked an even sharper product compared to previous weeks as they grow more accustomed to game conditions from their main sessions.

That fast movement benefitted the forwards on both sides, who hit the scoreboard freely in a high-scoring contest.

Tall timber stands out

From the get-go, it was a day for key forwards.

At one end, Peter Wright owned his 50-metre arc and continually converted from long range, while the pairing of Archie May and Liam McMahon combined for seven goals at the other end in terrific efforts around the park. 

Wright had a healthy connection going with Xavier Duursma, whose precise delivery found ‘2MP’ on three occasions and directly led to majors. 

May did a chunk of his work roaming as a higher forward but ran hard to get on the end of some passages of play closer to goal – his leads were also honoured nicely from centre bounce breakaways.

McMahon applied good pressure inside 50 with a goal coming from a strong tackle, while his elite set shot accuracy again stood out.

After a dynamic performance in last week’s match simulation, Nate Caddy added some more eye-catching moments. In the final period, he kept a play alive deep in the pocket, shrugged one tackle and baulked another to finish with a brilliant snap.

Defenders show fight

Zach Reid was one who more than held his own in a tantalising matchup with Caddy – his poise with and without the ball clearly gives confidence and assurance to his teammates in the back half.

While he was solid throughout, he provided a ‘wow’ moment late in the piece with a classic hanger on the wing, elevating over Kyle Langford and landing gracefully to cap off his day nicely. 

Jayden Nguyen’s bull-at-a-gate intensity clearly doesn’t just apply to external opposition.

The lockdown defender backed into a contest bravely against Vigo Visentini in the middle of the ground and earned his side a free kick. His toughness was apparent throughout the game, both on the ground and in the air against the small forwards.

Ben McKay battled well against Caddy and Wright, at one stage making a crucial spoil, immediately backing it up with a contested ball win and kicking off an attack off the rebound. 

Mosquito fleet

An Isaac Kako-Huss El Achkar combination is going to give coaches (and defenders) headaches down the track.

The best mates have such a palpable connection on-field – when one is in possession, you can count on the other being in best position for a handball receive or a deft no-look kick around the corner.

They linked up well up forward in the early stages before Kako moved up into the on-ball rotation, a shift that we saw in snippets through the final month of the 2025 season.

Kako’s ability to think through situations quickly and create scoring opportunities for others are areas of his game that continue to impress both as a forward and potential midfielder.

Midfield battle 

Spending 2025 largely as a defender, Lachie Blakiston is lapping up a move back to his more familiar position in the ruck. 

His athleticism and ability to outleap opponents gives his mids a good chance for first use at stoppages, and Darcy Parish was more than willing to capitalise on this. 

Continuing his positive pre-season form, Parish clearly had the most touches of anyone on the ground and put the footy in dangerous spots for Wright to compete – on one play, Parish’s gut running allowed him to crumb off a Caddy contest in the pocket and snap truly. 

Archie Roberts was moved into the midfield at different stages and burrowed in well. His ability to manoeuvre out of traffic even when outnumbered was a hallmark in last year’s breakout and has been prominent in recent match sim.

His distribution was perfect for McMahon to convert on a set shot in the pocket. 

The dynamic duo of Jye Caldwell and Sam Durham also just keeps on keeping on. 

In one of the highlights of the day, Caldwell hunted down a ball along the boundary off half back and gained about 20 metres through his grunt work.

After a nice handball chain with Max Kondogiannis and Saad El-Hawli, it was Durham who took possession with one hand, planted hard and executed an inch-perfect blind turn, causing visceral reactions from the conditioning and coaching staff along the touchline. 

Durham’s sheer power in the contest often set up Caldwell, whose trademark low bullets were perfect for Kako and El Achkar.

Zach Merrett did Zach Merrett things. A couple of clever snap goals were handy additions to a performance where he ran amok in midfield and hit tough targets with ease.  

Brayden Fiorini positioned well as a winger and occupied dangerous space, pushing forward to register a few shots on goal and getting back to offer a chop-out in defence. At one stage, his desperate spoil from a kick-in set up a throw-in which directly led to a score.

The Bombers will continue to build their pre-season over the coming weeks ahead of their match simulation hit out against Richmond at the NEC Hangar on Friday, February 20.