ESSENDON
Coach: John Worsfold
Captain: Dyson Heppell
Last five years: 8-11-8-18-15
Premierships: 16 (1897, 1901, 1911-12, 1923-24, 1942, 1946, 1949-50, 1962, 1965, 1984-85, 1993, 2000).
Key five: Zach Merrett, Orazio Fantasia, Dylan Shiel, Andrew McGrath, Devon Smith.
One to watch: Joe Daniher. Can the key forward get fit and return to his best for Essendon after an attempted move to Sydney during the trade period fell through? When Daniher is up and going, he’s one of the best in the competition. The problem is that injuries have restricted the 25-year-old to a total of 11 games in the past two seasons after a career-best 65-goal year in 2017. Questions also remain over Daniher’s long-term future.
Ins: Nick Bryan (Oakleigh U18), Ned Cahill (Dandenong U18), Tom Cutler (Brisbane), Mitch Hibberd (Williamstown VFL), Lachie Johnson (Oakleigh U18), Harrison Jones (Calder U18), Cian McBride (County Meath, Ireland), Ross McQuillan (County Armagh, Ireland), Andrew Phillips (Carlton), Jacob Townsend (Richmond).
Outs: Mark Baguley (retired), Mitch Brown (delisted), Zac Clarke (delisted), Matt Dea (retired), Michael Hartley (delisted), Jordan Houlahan (delisted), Tom Jok (delisted), Luke Lavender (retired), Jake Long (delisted), Ben McNiece (delisted), David Myers (retired), Trent Myrnott (delisted).
Best line-up:
B: Mason Redman, Cale Hooker, Patrick Ambrose
HB: Conor McKenna, Michael Hurley, Adam Saad
C: Devon Smith, Dyson Heppell, Andrew McGrath
HF: Jake Stringer, Shaun McKernan, Kyle Langford
F: Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Joe Daniher, Orazio Fantasia
R: Tom Bellchambers, Dylan Shiel, Zach Merrett
I: Aaron Francis, Darcy Parish, David Zaharakis, Martin Gleeson
Predicted finish: 12th