BOX HILL HAWKS vs ESSENDON

Second Preliminary Final
Saturday 12 September, 11:05am, Box Hill City Oval.

The Bombers take on Box Hill in do-or-die clash on Saturday in the second preliminary final.

In-form forward Tom Edwards misses a week after his return. Edwards booted two goals in the semi-final win over Tasmania before reporting delayed concussion symptoms post game, and is now in the AFL's return-to-play protocols.

ESSENDON (17)
B: J. Artemis (34), H. Jones (23), M. Kondogiannis (29)
HB: A. Clarke (36), Z. Johnson (40), S. El-Hawli (41)
C: R. Unwin (38), C. Bourke (39), M. Guelfi (35)
HF: H. El Achkar (33), J. Gresham (11), J. Nguyen (42)
F: N. Cox (13), L. McMahon (48), T. Sellers (75)
R: V. Visentini (17), W. Setterfield (12), E. Tsatas (5)
INT: D. Kalpakis (52), T. Kitchell (67), X. O'Neill (55), J. Hately (50), B. Dowling (73)
23rd Player: T. Kitchell (67)
EMG: J. Eckersley (58), R. Brodie (60), D. Uerata (59), S. McKay (51), J. Binns (74), C. Nyko (65)

IN: B. Dowling
OUT: T. Edwards (injured)

Head-to-head: Box Hill Hawks 9-8; At Box Hill City Oval: Tied 2-2; Streak: Essendon 1; Last time: Box Hill Hawks 6.10 (46) def by Essendon 10.11 (71) – Round 18, 2026, Kennedy Community Centre.

BROADCAST AND STREAMING: The 2026 Smithy’s VFL preliminary finals will be broadcast live and free by ABC TV VIC, the network’s main channel in Victoria, and ABC iview nationally. Both matches will also be live streamed free via the AFL website, AFL Live Official App and VFL App.

The game is sold-out.