Winger Brayden Fiorini has been moved to the long-term injury list, ruling him out for the remainder of the 2026 campaign.

The 28-year-old recruit was a late out for the clash with North Melbourne in round three after persistent back soreness, which was later revealed as an injury requiring surgery.

“It’s obviously disappointing for Brayden, who has quickly become an important part of our on and off-field leadership at the Club,” General Manager of AFL Daniel McPherson said.

“Ultimately, we want to give him the best opportunity to recover and contribute for us in the long-term, especially given the delicacy around having surgery on his back. This takes time and we don’t want to rush him back at the expense of the long-term.

“Moving him to the Long-Term Injury List gives us the opportunity to bring in another player via next week’s Mid-Season Draft. We’ll continue to assess our options over the coming week with our List and Recruiting team.”

As a result, the Bombers will now have a free list spot to utilise at the Mid-Season Rookie Draft next Tuesday if they wish to use it (at this stage, pick No.2 in the draft).

Essendon ruckman Vigo Visentini will miss the next block of matches after suffering a hamstring strain in the VFL game against the GWS Giants last weekend.

The setback comes shortly after Visentini's return from a similar injury. After reporting some low-level tightness at the end of the VFL game versus GWS, he pulled up well the next day, but was sore again the following day - subsequent scans confirmed a new injury.

"This is a frustrating outcome for Vigo, who hasn't had the continuity he or we wanted this season," McPherson said.

"He had shown promising signs in the VFL with a really strong game against the GIANTS. We're confident he'll come back from this, and our high-performance and medical teams will work with him on a clear return-to-play plan over the coming weeks."