Essendon track watch: Dylan Shiel, Saad El-Hawli and Archie Roberts the standouts during match sim

Nate Caddy was lively and Archie Perkins found plenty of the ball – but in Friday’s four-quarter match-sim, Dylan Shiel was the one turning heads in a new role. Get all the intel here.

Dylan Shiel has starred in a new role off halfback as Brad Scott faces a tough choice about his ruck stocks after a lengthy match simulation session.

The Bombers played four quarters on Friday, split into a largely ‘A’ team in grey and a team in red.

Shiel played as the highest defender for the grey team and racked up a heap of the ball, with his left foot kicking sharp in the important rebounding role.

This year looms as a crucial one for the veteran, who is out of contract and has only played more than 15 games in a season once in his past five campaigns.

He appeared to slot perfectly into a role vacated by the now-retired Dyson Heppell as a sweeping rebounder, but the Bombers will have plenty of options in that position.

Vice-captain Andy McGrath played as a deeper defender and Nic Martin also ran off halfback on Friday, the pair both capable of providing dash from defence.

Dylan Shiel impressed across half-back during Essendon match sim. Picture: David Crosling

Uncapped runner Saad El-Hawli can play there, but has largely trained on a wing and he collected plenty of the footy in that position for the red team, while Archie Roberts also found the ball with ease.

A dominant showing from Sam Draper also puts a big question around the ruck and forward stocks. Draper started at full-forward for the grey team and kicked two goals, while taking several impressive marks.

He rotated with Nick Bryan through the ruck, with Scott’s preference throughout his time as coach to play two rucks, meaning Draper would have to rest forward.

But Bryan was switched to the red team halfway through the match, with Peter Wright joining the grey side, and the tall forward took some towering marks and also slotted multiple goals.

With Nate Caddy locked in as a tall forward and Harry Jones enjoying a strong pre-season, it would appear the Dons can only play two of Draper, Wright and Bryan.

Caddy was again lively upfront, showing off his improved fitness base and he snagged three goals.

Jones started brightly, but was literally carted from the field on a golf buggy after a fall left him sore at the start of the final term.

The Bombers said Jones rolled an ankle in the fall and was treating the injury as minor.

Saad El-Hawli found plenty of the ball. Picture: David Crosling

Elijah Tsatas again filled the stat sheet for the grey team, working in tandem in the midfield with Sam Durham and Zach Merrett.

Xavier Duursma played his most match-sim minutes of the summer so far and was solid on a wing.

Ben McKay and Nik Cox headlined a handful of players who didn’t take part in the match and instead completed running, with Matt Guelfi once again jogging laps around the Hangar precinct, dodging rusted-on Dons fans watching training.

Each of Darcy Parish, Kyle Langford and Mason Redman missed training for a wedding and coach Brad Scott was also off-site.

New train-on player Tom Edwards has not arrived yet at Essendon and will soon rival Kaine Baldwin in the push for the final spot on the Dons list.

Harrison Jones rolled his ankle during the four-quarter session. Picture: David Crosling

And he was carted off the field. Picture: David Crosling

PLAYERS WHO IMPRESSED

Archie Perkins: Dons fans are praying Perkins can make a leap and he teased some good signs. Rotating between centre bounces and a deep forward role, he looked strong in the midfield but couldn’t take his chances upfront.

Jade Gresham: It was only an OK first season at Essendon for the ex-Saint in 2024 but Gresham showed some flashes of his best early in the match on Friday, setting up multiple goals and nailing a pair of tackles.

Saad El-Hawli: Already a SuperCoach favourite, the dasher may face an uphill climb to play round 1 given a fit Essendon list full of runners but he will surely play a big role in 2025. He just knows how to collect the footy and is a good distributor.

Originally published as Essendon track watch: Dylan Shiel, Saad El-Hawli and Archie Roberts the standouts during match sim