Head of High Performance and Medical Mat Inness reviews the Bombers' year from an availability and injury perspective, the evolution of the program and the latest on the rehab group.

Essendon is set to enter the 2027 pre-season with almost its entire playing list available to train, a significant shift from where the Club stood this time last year.

Inness says the underlying trend on availability has moved in the right direction, despite the list at times being struck hard by contact and impact injuries throughout the season. 

“We’re clearly in better shape now than what we were this time last year,” Inness said.

“If you think back to this time last year, we already had seven players unavailable for round one, and in total, over 20% of our games missed to injury this year were from injuries that occurred in 2025. 

“We knew it was going to take a period of time to get the list to where we needed them to be.

“Most of our long-term injured group played a lot of football this year and are currently healthy.

"So overall, it was a much more positive year in that respect, and the majority of our list will be back and ready to train for the start of pre-season.

Availability takes a step forward

A key focus entering the 2026 season was getting players who had endured repeated injury interruptions back into consistent football. 

Zach Reid stood out as the clearest example. Last season, Reid, along with Langford, Parish and Ridley missed 56 games with soft tissue injuries, however those same four only missed 14 games through soft tissue this season. In comparison to 2025, there was a 40 per cent reduction in games missed through soft tissue concerns across the whole playing list.

“Zach Reid, prior to this year, had only played 19 AFL games across his whole career, and never more than 10 games in a single season,” Inness said. 

“Whereas this year he played all 23 games, which was really positive.”

Parish also returned to more consistent football after managing just three AFL appearances in 2025 and enduring several interrupted seasons.

While a knee issue caused another interruption during the middle of this year, Parish had overall improved availability. 

“After only playing three AFL games last season, Darcy Parish was available for about 17 or 18 games this year.

“It wasn’t perfect for him, but again it was a more positive year from an availability point of view.”

What changed in 2026

Two key areas of focus were identified heading into 2026: exposing players to more high-speed running and better preparing them for the most physically demanding periods of AFL games.

“When I started, I spoke to a fair few players and staff around where they thought the Club needed to keep developing,” Inness said.

“Everyone was on the same page about things we had to do to get better at.

“We brought in more high-speed running, and a focus on the hardest periods of play in games.

“We focused on those two things in pre-season and had really good alignment with the players and staff.

“While we still had periods of the season where we were heavily impacted by injuries, the majority of these were through impact, which was unfortunate.

“But from a soft tissue point of view, it was really positive.”

VFL availability a key indicator

The improvement is also showing at VFL level, where 18 AFL-listed players qualified for the finals series, a sign of the greater continuity across the wider list. 

Inness points to Footscray's 2014 VFL premiership, and the AFL success that followed it, as the model he wants Essendon to build towards.

"Everyone at the Club is all in on this VFL campaign," he said.

"I have seen how having a strong VFL program can help the AFL side, where Footscray won the 2014 VFL Premiership, and that was followed by a successful period for the AFL program.”

“It’s really positive to have 18 AFL-listed players qualify for the VFL finals,” Inness said.

“Again, that shows that we had good availability at times throughout the year, which meant that we had a lot of players playing VFL.

Building towards 2027

For the AFL players not involved in the VFL finals campaign, attention has already shifted towards recovery and preparing their bodies for another pre-season.

Rather than remaining completely inactive throughout the break, players will gradually transition back into individual training following an initial period of rest.

“Those not playing VFL finals are taking a break at the moment,” Inness said.

“They have two weeks of rest and recovery, then we start to get into some cross-training in week three and by week four they’re back running and kicking the footballs around.

“They’ll be back training on their own before other teams have finished playing.

“A lot of them have caught up with me individually about how they can get better, so they’re all really keen to get back into it.”

The latest on the rehab group

Several Bombers whose seasons were impacted by longer-term injuries have also made significant progress in their rehabilitation, with the majority expected to be involved in training around the beginning of pre-season.

Brayden Fiorini

A back issue suffered early in the year ultimately ruled Fiorini out for the majority of the 2026 season.

He has since returned to running and kicking and is building towards a full return to training.

“Fiorini had a back issue right at the start of the season, unfortunately, which wiped out most of his 2026 season,” Inness said.

“He’s back running, and kicking, he’s going really well, and we expect him to be full training for the start of pre-season.”

Nic Martin

Martin continues to progress from the knee injury that ruled him out of the season, with his rehabilitation now incorporating more advanced football movements.

“Nic Martin, with his knee injury in the off-season missed the season, but he’s going really well,” Inness said.

“He’s doing high-level change of direction and football-specific drills.

“So again, we expect to see him very close to full training by the start of the pre-season.”

Sullivan Robey

Essendon adopted a conservative approach with Robey after the young Bomber suffered a knee injury late in the season.

He has since resumed running and is on track to return to the main program.

“Sully had that knee injury at the back end of the season,” Inness said.

“With such a young player, we took a conservative approach.

“He is back running now and we expect to see him back full training by the start of the pre-season.”

Lewis Hayes

After being restricted to one VFL appearance in 2026, Hayes is now completing high-level change of direction work as his rehabilitation continues.

“Hayes is on the same path as Nic Martin, he’s back doing high-level change of direction,” Inness said.

“Again, disappointing for Lewis to miss the season, playing just that one game in the VFL.

“But pleasingly, we expect to see him back close to full training at the start of the pre-season.”

Archie May

May’s season was brought to an early end by a shoulder dislocation, but the forward has avoided surgery.

“Archie May had that dislocation of his shoulder that finished the back end of his year,” Inness said.

“Luckily, he doesn’t need surgery.

“We expect to see him doing most of the training when pre-season starts.”

Jordan Ridley

Ridley had managed a run of consecutive games of availability before suffering a low-level Lisfranc injury late in the campaign.

The defender has now returned to running.

“Jordan Ridley is again back running,” Inness said.

“He was starting to get some good continuity towards the middle and back end of the year, being available for eight games in a row. Jordan then unfortunately had a low-level Lisfranc injury to his foot, which meant that he couldn’t quite get back for the last three to four games.

“But Rids is back running and looking really good.”

Xavier Duursma

Duursma’s season ended following a moderate-grade hamstring injury with several rounds remaining.

With limited football left in the season, the Club opted against rushing the winger back for a potential late return.

“Duursma had a moderate-grade hamstring injury with about four to five games to go,” Inness said.

“With the time of the year, we didn’t want to risk him by pushing to get him back for the last game.

“We took the conservative approach to put him on ice, but he’s back running at speed.

“We’re expecting him to be back in full training at the start of pre-season.”