AFL round 8 Essendon v North Melbourne: All the news, fallout and analysis from the Bombers’ three-point win

A ‘gutted’ Kyle Langford has touched on Essendon’s horror injury run. But after another close win the star Bomber has full belief that the club’s culture can attract some big-name recruits.

Jon Ralph and Tyler Lewis

6 min read

May 2, 2025 - 2:15PM

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Dons young gun suffers ugly ankle injury

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Essendon forward Kyle Langford says he is “gutted” to lose emerging forward Harrison Jones with a dislocated ankle as the Dons count the cost of a third injured key tall in a fortnight.

Essendon escaped with a narrow victory against North Melbourne on Thursday night but Jones and Jordan Ridley (hamstring) will miss some time.

Jones was rushed to hospital with a dislocated ankle that twisted in a gruesome manner as he tried to pull up short of the boundary line.

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Kyle Langford a goal. Picture: Getty Images

He has dislocated his ankle and hopefully avoided bone damage but the Dons will have to assess a return-to-play timeline given ankle ligament concerns.

He has a full ankle reconstruction on his other leg in 2023 in a season where he also had to recover from back stress fractures.

Ridley suffered a hamstring sprain but to the opposite leg to the hamstring he tweaked in January.

He is still likely to miss a month given a conservative management plan that takes in his soft-tissue history.

Jade Gresham tweaked his groin so will be assessed, but Jye Caldwell (hamstring) will be ready to return against Sydney at Marvel Stadium next Saturday.

With Tom Edwards (ACL) out for the season and Sam Draper having suffered an achilles tear, the Dons key forward options are dwindling.

“I am absolutely gutted for him. I didn’t know or see it happen and we found out at three quarter time and he had either dislocated or broken his ankle,” Langford said post-match.

“My old man showed me the footage, and it looks pretty bad so he’s really started to get continuity in our game and he’s a really important player for us. He can play on a wing and play forward so it’s going to leave a hole. We seem to have some significant injuries on our list.”

Harrison Jones holds his leg in pain. Picture: Getty Images

Full forward Langford only returned from his own hamstring concern last week and after his own previous bout of hamstring surgery was nervous about coming back on Anzac Day.

But having endured that test he says the young and mobile forward line will have to find ways to adapt.

“I think my goal last week on Anzac Day tested it, I was at 96 per cent speed and it was almost a ground ball so if it was going to go, it was going to go then. So it’s rock solid.”

“I think we really like the mobile look, that suits us and he’s pretty athletic as well so we like that up forward.

“(Isaac Kako and Nate Caddy) are young players and still learning their craft but you can see their want to get better and their talent and the more games they play the better they will be. They will work with myself and Peter (Wright) and the other forward. It takes a lot of time to build that continuity in the forward line, to have that trust and leading patterns.

Coach Brad Scott said mid-week the club had to be in the race for Harley Reid given his talent, and Langford believes Essendon is building the kind of culture to become a destination club.

“You have seen that with players staying at our club as well. Players have signed up long-term. We have a bit of a vision and we are building and these things take time.

I don’t think it’s going to happen in two or three years. You build a list and a culture and we are seeing that day to day at our footy club and if we can attract players then that will make our list better.

“Someone like Harley Reid, we would love him but there are so many clubs who would love to have him. That will or won’t come to fruition at the back end of the year.”

The Bombers have won four of their last five. Picture: Josh Chadwick/Getty Images

SCOTT, DONS COUNT COST OF INJURIES

Essendon is bracing for a long period without young forward Harrison Jones after he sustained a dislocated ankle during Thursday night’s win over North Melbourne.

Jones landed awkwardly on his left ankle late in the third quarter and was eventually stretchered off the ground during the three-quarter time interval.

He was at the forefront of Essendon’s “carnage” as it also lost defender Jordan Ridley to a hamstring and will sweat on the scans of small forward Jade Gresham.

Ridley went down on the cusp of halftime and Gresham was forced to sit the tense final minutes of the game with a tight adductor.

Essendon coach Brad Scott said Jones was in significant pain and would be sent to hospital for his sickening ankle injury.

“Yeah it was carnage there in the second half in particular, well Ridley before that (too),” Scott said.

“The Jones one, dislocated ankle is the minimum, that’s what it looks like but he’ll go to hospital and have further assessments (to see) if there is any further damage there.

“He’s in a fair bit of pain and his ankle is pointing the wrong way, it obviously doesn’t sound good.

“Ridley hamstring, fresh injury unrelated to anything he’s had prior, in his 100th game, we talked about his rollercoaster career … he’s had to overcome some adversity and just as soon as he gets a free run at it, another injury.

“Gresham couldn’t back on with a bit of adductor tightness, (we’ll) get that checked, get that assessed and get back to you.”

Jones being stuck on the far side of the ground prompted the umpires and medical staff to put his wellbeing first.

Scott praised the umpires, the medical teams and his own players for their composed response to the incident.

“I didn’t have any part in that (the delayed stretcher), that was just up to the medical teams and the umpires, I thought the umpires were pretty good,” he said.

“I can’t remember a time where the umpires come up to our huddle at three-quarter time and said ‘look, this might take a while’.

“It can be a concern, you look across and you’re a couple of players down, you have to reshuffle players into positions that aren’t their primary or their secondary roles.

“I thought the players were pretty calm and composed in that situation which was pleasing.”

Essendon, which has now won four of its past five matches, faces Sydney at Marvel Stadium next Saturday afternoon.

Nate Caddy celebrates kicking a goal. Picture: Getty Images

MATCH REPORT: DONS WIN A THRILLER

YOU CAN’T DO THAT

Essendon young gun Isaac Kako is bound to relive a third-quarter blunder at the midweek review after he burnt captain Zach Merrett inside 50.

The Bombers were being mowed down by North Melbourne in the third quarter but had a chance to go back out to a seven-point lead with only seconds left on the clock.

After storming through the middle of the ground, Kako veered off his line to take a difficult running shot at goal.

In doing so, the teenager missed a wide open Merrett in the corridor.

The skewed shot on goal bounced out of Merrett’s reach, who was then visibly upset with the missed opportunity.

CLASSY KANGAS

North Melbourne produced some of its finest football of the year in a strong third quarter on Thursday night.

Running machine Colby McKercher lit the fuse early in the term, turning on the jets, taking two bounces and kicking a tidy goal on the run.

McKercher’s goal was the first of four unanswered goals for North Melbourne.

Essendon responded, but only briefly, as Cameron Zurhaar bulldozed through a tackle and dribbled his side’s fifth goal of the quarter from tight on the boundary line.