2026 AFL Season Round 2: Essendon v Hawthorn

This is the match report for the match played on 13 March 2026 between Essendon and Hawthorn during round two of the 2026 season of the Australian Football League. Essendon "hosted" Hawthorn at the MCG. Andrew McGrath captained the hosts. With the presence of multiple Hawthorn co-captains, namely Jai Newcombe and James Sicily, playing for the side, it is not yet known who specifically captained the visitors. The hosts were coached by Brad Scott and the visitors were coached by Sam Mitchell.

Essendon (13.5.83) were defeated by Hawthorn (21.19.145).

Match Details

Season: 2026 AFL Season
Round: Round 2
Teams: Essendon v Hawthorn
Date: Friday 13 March 2026
Time: 7:40 PM
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 71,384

Match Results

Outcome: Essendon def. by Hawthorn
Score: 13.5.83 - 21.19.145

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Essendon 4 . 3 6 . 3 9 . 5 13 . 5 13 . 5 (83)
Hawthorn 5 . 4 12 . 11 18 . 14 21 . 19 21 . 19 (145)
Margin HWTH by 7 HWTH by 44 HWTH by 63 HWTH by 62 HWTH by 62
Duration 33:19 33:48 30:31 28:38 2:06:16

Score Worm

This chart is oriented such that the margin is positive when the hosts (Essendon) are in the lead and is negative when the visitors (Hawthorn) are in the lead.

Honour Roll

Essendon

Captain: Andrew McGrath
Coach: Brad Scott

Hawthorn

Captain: unknown
Coach: Sam Mitchell

Brownlow Votes

Player Team # Votes
Connor MacDonald HWTH 9 3
Nick Watson HWTH 5 2
Jack Gunston HWTH 19 1

AFLCA Champion Votes

Player Team # Votes 5 4 3 2 1

Player Statistics

Essendon

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
46 Blakiston, Lachlan RU 83% 0 0 9 3 6 1 19 4 5 5 3 5 1 2
30 Caddy, Nate CHF 88% 1 1 11 7 4 4 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 1
6 Caldwell, Jye C 72% 1 1 18 11 7 3 0 7 2 6 0 0 3 1
22 Durham, Sam HFFL 72% 2 0 23 10 13 4 0 4 5 4 1 1 3 2
28 Duursma, Xavier WL 83% 2 0 12 4 8 4 0 2 0 3 1 0 1 0
33 El Achkar, Hussien FPL 76% 1 0 8 6 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2
8 Fiorini, Brayden WR 79% 1 1 20 7 13 5 0 1 1 4 1 0 2 2
40 Johnson, Zak HBFL 82% 0 0 16 9 7 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 0
29 Kondogiannis, Max INT 75% 0 0 15 5 10 4 0 2 1 1 0 1 2 1
4 Langford, Kyle FPR 89% 0 1 9 5 4 1 0 1 0 3 2 1 0 1
26 May, Archie INT 59% 0 0 3 3 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 1
1 McGrath, Andrew (c) HBFR 82% 0 0 21 8 13 6 0 4 0 2 1 1 5 2
32 McKay, Ben FB 99% 0 0 12 5 7 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
7 Merrett, Zach RO 80% 1 1 32 17 15 5 0 2 4 1 1 0 2 6
42 Nguyen, Jayden HFFR 78% 0 0 12 5 7 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 1
3 Parish, Darcy RR 69% 0 0 21 12 9 2 0 4 6 3 2 1 2 6
16 Perkins, Archie INT 73% 1 0 17 8 9 3 0 2 0 3 1 0 0 4
25 Prior, Jaxon BPL 77% 0 0 10 5 5 3 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 3
27 Redman, Mason CHB 89% 0 0 26 20 6 7 0 2 0 0 1 0 8 2
31 Reid, Zach BPR 95% 0 0 10 5 5 2 0 0 0 3 1 3 3 0
21 Roberts, Archie INT 61% 0 0 20 13 7 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 2 3
15 Sharp, Dyson INT 58% 2 0 6 3 3 2 0 4 0 1 1 0 0 0
20 Wright, Peter FF 80% 1 0 7 4 3 2 6 0 0 3 1 1 2 0
Rushed 0
Total (23 players) 13 5 338 175 163 75 25 46 28 52 20 15 46 40

Hawthorn

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
10 Amon, Karl BPL 77% 0 1 23 17 6 3 0 1 0 4 0 0 3 8
37 Barrass, Tom FB 77% 0 0 8 6 2 5 0 0 0 3 0 2 2 0
24 Battle, Josh HBFL 91% 0 0 18 14 4 10 0 3 0 0 2 0 3 0
30 Butler, Sam INT 74% 0 0 9 7 2 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
18 Chol, Mabior FF 77% 1 3 14 13 1 9 0 1 1 3 0 2 0 3
16 D'Ambrosio, Massimo WR 80% 1 0 12 6 6 5 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 4
33 Ginnivan, Jack HFFL 83% 1 3 20 14 6 9 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 7
19 Gunston, Jack FPR 77% 5 1 10 8 2 8 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
15 Hardwick, Blake HBFR 91% 0 0 21 13 8 11 0 0 1 2 0 1 4 0
4 Impey, Jarman BPR 82% 0 0 23 16 7 12 0 4 0 1 0 0 5 2
2 Lewis, Mitch INT 77% 0 1 11 8 3 6 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1
9 MacDonald, Connor FPL 79% 2 2 24 15 9 3 0 0 1 3 1 1 0 7
28 Mackenzie, Cam C 74% 0 1 21 13 8 6 0 5 5 1 1 0 1 1
17 Meek, Lloyd RU 58% 0 0 13 6 7 3 26 2 5 5 2 4 0 2
8 Moore, Dylan WL 85% 1 1 24 17 7 7 0 2 2 2 1 1 1 4
11 Nash, Conor INT 79% 1 0 23 6 17 5 0 4 7 4 0 1 0 1
3 Newcombe, Jai RR 73% 1 1 22 11 11 6 0 4 6 2 1 2 1 2
7 Reeves, Ned INT 53% 2 0 12 5 7 3 17 1 4 0 2 0 0 2
14 Scrimshaw, Jack INT 82% 0 0 16 12 4 8 0 3 0 6 0 3 3 1
6 Sicily, James CHB 94% 0 0 26 21 5 11 0 4 0 4 1 1 3 5
25 Ward, Josh CHF 75% 0 0 26 16 10 6 0 5 5 2 1 0 0 8
5 Watson, Nick HFFR 81% 4 2 17 13 4 6 0 5 1 4 0 0 0 4
23 Weddle, Josh RO 83% 2 2 16 8 8 8 0 4 2 1 0 0 0 6
Rushed 1
Total (23 players) 21 19 409 265 144 157 43 52 41 53 15 20 27 69

Legend

ToG%: Time-on-Ground Percentage, GL: Goals, BH: Behinds, DI: Disposals, KI: Kicks, HB: Handballs, MK: Marks, HO: Hitouts, TA: Tackles, CL: Clearances, CR: Clangers, FF: Free Kicks For, FA: Free Kicks Against, RF: Rebounds Inside 50, IF: Inside 50s

Player Line-Up

Essendon Coach: Brad Scott
BACK FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
10 K. Amon 37 T. Barrass 4 J. Impey 46 L. Blakiston 29 M. Kondogiannis
4 K. Langford 20 P. Wright 33 H. El Achkar 3 D. Parish 26 A. May
FORWARD 7 Z. Merrett 16 A. Perkins
HALF-BACK

21 A. Roberts
24 J. Battle 6 J. Sicily 15 B. Hardwick

15 D. Sharp
42 J. Nguyen 30 N. Caddy 22 S. Durham



HALF-FORWARD



CENTRE



8 D. Moore 28 C. Mackenzie 16 M. D'Ambrosio



8 B. Fiorini 6 J. Caldwell 28 X. Duursma FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
CENTRE 17 L. Meek 30 S. Butler
HALF-FORWARD 3 J. Newcombe 2 M. Lewis
33 J. Ginnivan 25 J. Ward 5 N. Watson 23 J. Weddle 11 C. Nash
1 A. McGrath (c) 27 M. Redman 40 Z. Johnson

7 N. Reeves
HALF-BACK

14 J. Scrimshaw
FORWARD



9 C. MacDonald 18 M. Chol 19 J. Gunston



31 Z. Reid 32 B. McKay 25 J. Prior



BACK



Hawthorn Coach: Sam Mitchell

Score Timeline

Quarter Team Scoring Event Score Time
Q1 HWTH Jack Gunston goal 0.0.0 - 1.0.6 00:58
HWTH Jai Newcombe behind 0.0.0 - 1.1.7 02:43
ESSE Sam Durham goal 1.0.6 - 1.1.7 04:21
HWTH Connor MacDonald goal 1.0.6 - 2.1.13 06:01
ESSE Jye Caldwell behind 1.1.7 - 2.1.13 08:19
HWTH Josh Weddle goal 1.1.7 - 3.1.19 08:56
ESSE Xavier Duursma goal 2.1.13 - 3.1.19 10:19
HWTH Ned Reeves goal 2.1.13 - 4.1.25 13:14
HWTH Jack Gunston behind 2.1.13 - 4.2.26 14:57
HWTH Jack Ginnivan behind 2.1.13 - 4.3.27 16:10
ESSE Dyson Sharp goal 3.1.19 - 4.3.27 18:42
HWTH Connor MacDonald goal 3.1.19 - 5.3.33 20:35
ESSE Kyle Langford behind 3.2.20 - 5.3.33 22:28
ESSE Sam Durham goal 4.2.26 - 5.3.33 26:51
HWTH Rushed behind 4.2.26 - 5.4.34 28:46
ESSE Brayden Fiorini behind 4.3.27 - 5.4.34 29:27
Q2 HWTH Nick Watson behind 4.3.27 - 5.5.35 00:58
HWTH Jack Gunston goal 4.3.27 - 6.5.41 03:00
HWTH Dylan Moore behind 4.3.27 - 6.6.42 05:22
ESSE Zach Merrett goal 5.3.33 - 6.6.42 07:23
HWTH Mitch Lewis behind 5.3.33 - 6.7.43 09:08
HWTH Cam Mackenzie behind 5.3.33 - 6.8.44 09:38
ESSE Dyson Sharp goal 6.3.39 - 6.8.44 11:16
HWTH Mabior Chol behind 6.3.39 - 6.9.45 14:45
HWTH Mabior Chol goal 6.3.39 - 7.9.51 16:08
HWTH Karl Amon behind 6.3.39 - 7.10.52 21:12
HWTH Nick Watson goal 6.3.39 - 8.10.58 22:18
HWTH Massimo D'Ambrosio goal 6.3.39 - 9.10.64 24:31
HWTH Jack Gunston goal 6.3.39 - 10.10.70 27:27
HWTH Mabior Chol behind 6.3.39 - 10.11.71 29:11
HWTH Ned Reeves goal 6.3.39 - 11.11.77 31:31
HWTH Nick Watson goal 6.3.39 - 12.11.83 32:44
Q3 ESSE Zach Merrett behind 6.4.40 - 12.11.83 01:46
ESSE Brayden Fiorini goal 7.4.46 - 12.11.83 03:56
HWTH Jack Gunston goal 7.4.46 - 13.11.89 06:00
HWTH Dylan Moore goal 7.4.46 - 14.11.95 07:33
ESSE Nate Caddy goal 8.4.52 - 14.11.95 08:54
HWTH Conor Nash goal 8.4.52 - 15.11.101 10:52
HWTH Connor MacDonald behind 8.4.52 - 15.12.102 11:57
HWTH Josh Weddle goal 8.4.52 - 16.12.108 14:09
HWTH Jack Ginnivan goal 8.4.52 - 17.12.114 16:12
ESSE Nate Caddy behind 8.5.53 - 17.12.114 18:07
HWTH Josh Weddle behind 8.5.53 - 17.13.115 20:57
HWTH Josh Weddle behind 8.5.53 - 17.14.116 23:04
HWTH Jai Newcombe goal 8.5.53 - 18.14.122 24:40
ESSE Hussien El Achkar goal 9.5.59 - 18.14.122 26:50
Q4 HWTH Nick Watson behind 9.5.59 - 18.15.123 02:17
HWTH Jack Ginnivan behind 9.5.59 - 18.16.124 04:34
HWTH Jack Gunston goal 9.5.59 - 19.16.130 06:19
HWTH Mabior Chol behind 9.5.59 - 19.17.131 08:09
HWTH Jack Ginnivan behind 9.5.59 - 19.18.132 12:02
ESSE Xavier Duursma goal 10.5.65 - 19.18.132 14:43
ESSE Archie Perkins goal 11.5.71 - 19.18.132 16:42
HWTH Connor MacDonald behind 11.5.71 - 19.19.133 18:03
ESSE Peter Wright goal 12.5.77 - 19.19.133 19:20
ESSE Jye Caldwell goal 13.5.83 - 19.19.133 21:05
HWTH Nick Watson goal 13.5.83 - 20.19.139 25:37
HWTH Nick Watson goal 13.5.83 - 21.19.145 28:35