Creative Essendon running player Nic Martin is waiting on scans and advice from his surgeon after re-injuring his reconstructed knee at training.
Martin will meet with his surgeon early next week to assess the damage to his knee from a slip at training.
Nic Martin at Essendon training earlier this month.Credit: AFL Photos
The fear, naturally, is that the graft in the reconstructed knee has either been aggravated or faltered. The club won’t be certain until scans of Martin’s knee are assessed by his surgeon next week, with the Bombers hopeful he can avoid a second reconstruction of the knee in six months.
Martin, who was runner-up in the Bombers best and fairest in 2024, was midway through his recovery from a knee reconstruction and was on track for a return mid-season next year.
The key running defender and wingman injured his ACL in round 18 against Richmond. Ordinarily players miss about 12 months from a reconstruction.
In a club statement issued on Tuesday morning, the Bombers said they would provide a further update “once Nic has met with the surgeon and the matter has been reviewed by our medical and high-performance team”.
Martin was not alone in his knee reconstruction recovery with Nick Bryan, Lewis Hayes and Thomas Edwards all also returning from ACL surgeries. In what was a season from hell on the injury front for Essendon in 2025, 15 players made their debut.
Andrew McGrath, who was Essendon’s deputy under this year’s captain Zach Merrett and could take on the captaincy for 2026 following the skipper’s push to leave the club in the trade period, spoke at an event on Saturday about the importance of Essendon’s leaders, including Martin.
“If you have been in the system for a while, you’ve seen a lot, and seen the good and the bad that footy throws up,” McGrath said.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have so many good leaders above me for my whole career with Dyson [Heppell] and Zach currently. You learn bits and pieces from those guys.
“Everyone my age is a leader at the footy club – we’ve got some great middle-aged sort of guys, but they seem a bit older with how young our playing list is at the moment.
“Guys like Kyle Langford, Mason Redman and Nic Martin are great young, emerging leaders. Sam Durham as well.
“It doesn’t really feel like a big responsibility because we share the load so well.”
Back in September, less than two months into his recovery from his ACL reconstruction, Martin said: “I am doing everything in my power to make sure I am part of the next Essendon premiership.
“My job as a leader is to make sure Isaac Kako, Nate Caddy, Angus Clarke, Archie Roberts, these types are there as well have lost no confidence in what we are building. I am going to do everything in my power to make sure I am there for the next premiership.”
With Roy Ward, Peter Ryan and Marc McGowan
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