Jordan Ridley is set to miss the start of the season after sustaining a calf strain at training last Friday.

“'Rids' has put together a really strong block of work with our high-performance team in recent weeks and was on track to return this Saturday, so it’s disappointing that he’s sustained a new injury at this time,” Essendon’s General Manager – AFL Daniel McPherson said.

“We’ll have a better idea of his specific return-to-play timeline once he’s progressed further in his rehab, but he certainly won’t play in the opening couple of rounds."

Youngster Rhys Unwin will also likely miss the start of the season after a calf strain in the VFL hitout against Richmond on Friday. 

“Rhys suffered a calf strain in the first half of the VFL match on Friday. He will commence a modified training program over the next week before progressively building up his running loads and reintegrating into main training,” McPherson said. 

Isaac Kako commenced running last week, and will ramp up his training loads this week after a minor hamstring strain in the pre-season - he won't be available for selection against the Saints in Ballarat this Saturday. 

Archie Perkins and Nik Cox will both be available for selection this week, with Harry Jones set to play some minutes in the VFL practice match at the NEC Hangar on Sunday - his first match minutes since a season-ending ankle injury from 2025.