2026 AFL Season Round 6: Essendon v Melbourne

This is the match report for the match played on 11 April 2026 between Essendon and Melbourne during round six of the 2026 season of the Australian Football League. Essendon hosted Melbourne at Adelaide Oval. Andrew McGrath captained the hosts. Max Gawn captained the visitors. The hosts were coached by Brad Scott and the visitors were coached by Steven King.

Essendon (17.11.113) defeated Melbourne (10.8.68).

Match Details

Season: 2026 AFL Season
Round: Round 6
Teams: Essendon v Melbourne
Date: Saturday 11 April 2026
Time: 12:45 PM
Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: 38,006

Match Results

Outcome: Essendon def. Melbourne
Score: 17.11.113 - 10.8.68

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Essendon 3 . 5 6 . 8 12 . 9 17 . 11 17 . 11 (113)
Melbourne 3 . 1 8 . 2 9 . 5 10 . 8 10 . 8 (68)
Margin ESSE by 4 MELB by 6 ESSE by 22 ESSE by 45 ESSE by 45
Duration 29:42 32:39 31:02 29:57 2:03:20

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 (Melbourne) are in the lead.

Honour Roll

Essendon

Captain: Andrew McGrath
Coach: Brad Scott

Melbourne

Captain: Max Gawn
Coach: Steven King

Brownlow Votes

Player Team # Votes
Darcy Parish ESSE 3 3
Zach Merrett ESSE 7 2
Archie Roberts ESSE 21 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 8 4 4 3 7 2 1 3 0 1 2 0
30 Caddy, Nate CHF 79% 2 3 12 9 3 3 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 3
6 Caldwell, Jye C 68% 0 0 16 9 7 0 0 4 6 2 0 0 1 3
44 Day-Wicks, Archer WL 82% 1 0 15 7 8 3 0 3 0 5 1 1 1 2
22 Durham, Sam HFFL 74% 1 0 16 11 5 6 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 4
28 Duursma, Xavier INT 72% 2 0 21 11 10 7 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 2
45 Edwards, Thomas FPR 71% 2 1 8 7 1 3 0 6 0 4 1 3 0 4
2 Farrow, Jacob HBFR 78% 0 1 22 16 6 12 0 1 1 2 1 0 2 2
11 Gresham, Jade CHB 77% 1 1 13 10 3 4 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 2
10 Kako, Isaac FPL 79% 2 0 19 6 13 2 0 3 0 2 0 0 1 3
4 Langford, Kyle HFFR 83% 0 1 27 16 11 8 0 2 2 3 0 0 5 2
26 May, Archie INT 67% 2 1 4 4 0 4 0 2 0 3 0 2 0 0
1 McGrath, Andrew (c) BPR 74% 0 0 13 6 7 1 0 2 3 0 1 0 2 2
32 McKay, Ben FB 94% 0 0 23 14 9 11 0 2 0 4 0 1 3 0
7 Merrett, Zach RO 79% 1 0 31 17 14 5 0 2 5 1 1 0 2 5
3 Parish, Darcy RR 80% 0 0 34 18 16 6 0 1 7 2 1 1 0 8
25 Prior, Jaxon WR 82% 0 0 17 12 5 10 0 3 0 2 1 0 6 1
31 Reid, Zach INT 83% 0 0 18 15 3 11 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0
14 Ridley, Jordan BPL 78% 0 0 26 17 9 11 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1
21 Roberts, Archie HBFL 88% 1 0 42 32 10 15 0 0 2 5 0 1 9 3
9 Robey, Sullivan INT 73% 0 0 9 4 5 3 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 2
5 Tsatas, Elijah INT 78% 1 0 29 12 17 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 3
20 Wright, Peter FF 76% 1 0 18 15 3 8 14 4 8 2 3 2 0 2
Rushed 3
Total (23 players) 17 11 441 272 169 139 21 45 40 50 15 15 39 54

Melbourne

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
37 Chandler, Kade WL 73% 1 0 14 4 10 3 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 2
13 Culley, Jai HFFR 69% 0 0 10 3 7 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 1
31 Fritsch, Bayley HFFL 83% 1 0 13 7 6 2 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 1
11 Gawn, Max (c) RU 85% 1 0 22 14 8 1 34 2 11 6 5 2 3 4
22 Howes, Blake INT 84% 0 0 14 8 6 3 0 3 1 2 1 0 2 0
15 Langdon, Ed WR 89% 0 0 13 5 8 3 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 3
4 Langford, Harvey INT 70% 1 0 17 8 9 4 0 3 1 3 1 1 1 3
8 Lever, Jake FB 84% 0 0 18 16 2 10 0 2 0 4 0 2 7 0
5 Lindsay, Xavier HBFR 74% 0 0 16 13 3 0 0 2 0 2 1 0 4 2
25 McDonald, Tom CHB 100% 0 0 15 12 3 10 0 2 0 5 0 2 2 3
18 Melksham, Jake FPL 73% 0 0 5 2 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
28 Mihocek, Brody FF 84% 1 0 6 4 2 3 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 2
35 Petty, Harry INT 76% 0 1 7 4 3 5 3 1 1 1 0 0 1 1
36 Pickett, Kysaiah FPR 81% 2 1 28 19 9 4 0 8 2 11 1 3 1 6
33 Pickett, Latrelle INT 73% 1 0 7 5 2 2 0 1 1 5 0 0 0 2
3 Salem, Christian BPR 51% 0 0 12 11 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 3 3
30 Sharp, Harry RO 73% 1 1 14 9 5 3 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 6
32 Sparrow, Tom INT 67% 1 0 18 8 10 1 0 6 3 2 1 0 1 2
9 Steele, Jack C 75% 0 1 28 12 16 5 0 5 6 5 1 1 1 3
12 Tholstrup, Koltyn RR 85% 0 0 22 13 9 3 0 1 0 5 2 2 4 2
10 Turner, Daniel BPL 96% 0 0 17 10 7 7 0 2 0 4 1 0 5 2
2 van Rooyen, Jacob CHF 73% 0 2 9 3 6 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
6 Windsor, Caleb HBFL 82% 0 0 7 7 0 4 0 3 1 2 0 0 0 3
Rushed 2
Total (23 players) 10 8 332 197 135 78 39 54 32 67 15 15 37 52

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 D. Turner 8 J. Lever 3 C. Salem 46 L. Blakiston 28 X. Duursma
45 T. Edwards 20 P. Wright 10 I. Kako 3 D. Parish 26 A. May
FORWARD 7 Z. Merrett 31 Z. Reid
HALF-BACK

9 S. Robey
6 C. Windsor 25 T. McDonald 5 X. Lindsay

5 E. Tsatas
4 K. Langford 30 N. Caddy 22 S. Durham



HALF-FORWARD



CENTRE



37 K. Chandler 9 J. Steele 15 E. Langdon



25 J. Prior 6 J. Caldwell 44 A. Day-Wicks FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
CENTRE 11 M. Gawn (c) 22 B. Howes
HALF-FORWARD 12 K. Tholstrup 4 H. Langford
31 B. Fritsch 2 J. van Rooyen 13 J. Culley 30 H. Sharp 35 H. Petty
2 J. Farrow 11 J. Gresham 21 A. Roberts

33 L. Pickett
HALF-BACK

32 T. Sparrow
FORWARD



18 J. Melksham 28 B. Mihocek 36 K. Pickett



1 A. McGrath (c) 32 B. McKay 14 J. Ridley



BACK



Melbourne Coach: Steven King

Score Timeline

Quarter Team Scoring Event Score Time
Q1 ESSE Rushed behind 0.1.1 - 0.0.0 02:54
ESSE Rushed behind 0.2.2 - 0.0.0 05:16
ESSE Thomas Edwards goal 1.2.8 - 0.0.0 06:44
MELB Bayley Fritsch goal 1.2.8 - 1.0.6 08:43
MELB Latrelle Pickett goal 1.2.8 - 2.0.12 10:43
ESSE Nate Caddy behind 1.3.9 - 2.0.12 13:38
ESSE Xavier Duursma goal 2.3.15 - 2.0.12 15:33
MELB Harry Sharp behind 2.3.15 - 2.1.13 17:31
ESSE Nate Caddy behind 2.4.16 - 2.1.13 19:16
ESSE Thomas Edwards behind 2.5.17 - 2.1.13 20:25
ESSE Elijah Tsatas goal 3.5.23 - 2.1.13 24:38
MELB Harry Sharp goal 3.5.23 - 3.1.19 28:27
Q2 MELB Max Gawn goal 3.5.23 - 4.1.25 06:25
MELB Kysaiah Pickett goal 3.5.23 - 5.1.31 09:29
MELB Tom Sparrow goal 3.5.23 - 6.1.37 12:39
ESSE Archie May goal 4.5.29 - 6.1.37 16:07
MELB Kade Chandler goal 4.5.29 - 7.1.43 18:48
ESSE Rushed behind 4.6.30 - 7.1.43 20:45
MELB Brody Mihocek goal 4.6.30 - 8.1.49 21:56
ESSE Archie May behind 4.7.31 - 8.1.49 23:38
ESSE Sam Durham goal 5.7.37 - 8.1.49 25:15
ESSE Jacob Farrow behind 5.8.38 - 8.1.49 27:24
MELB Jacob van Rooyen behind 5.8.38 - 8.2.50 29:37
ESSE Isaac Kako goal 6.8.44 - 8.2.50 30:08
Q3 ESSE Archer Day-Wicks goal 7.8.50 - 8.2.50 03:50
MELB Harry Petty behind 7.8.50 - 8.3.51 08:17
MELB Jack Steele behind 7.8.50 - 8.4.52 10:11
ESSE Archie Roberts goal 8.8.56 - 8.4.52 11:46
ESSE Jade Gresham behind 8.9.57 - 8.4.52 13:08
ESSE Nate Caddy goal 9.9.63 - 8.4.52 15:13
MELB Kysaiah Pickett goal 9.9.63 - 9.4.58 19:21
ESSE Isaac Kako goal 10.9.69 - 9.4.58 24:40
ESSE Jade Gresham goal 11.9.75 - 9.4.58 26:35
ESSE Thomas Edwards goal 12.9.81 - 9.4.58 27:59
MELB Rushed behind 12.9.81 - 9.5.59 29:07
Q4 MELB Kysaiah Pickett behind 12.9.81 - 9.6.60 06:19
ESSE Kyle Langford behind 12.10.82 - 9.6.60 06:58
ESSE Zach Merrett goal 13.10.88 - 9.6.60 08:00
ESSE Archie May goal 14.10.94 - 9.6.60 09:47
ESSE Nate Caddy goal 15.10.100 - 9.6.60 11:49
ESSE Xavier Duursma goal 16.10.106 - 9.6.60 13:40
MELB Harvey Langford goal 16.10.106 - 10.6.66 17:06
MELB Jacob van Rooyen behind 16.10.106 - 10.7.67 18:45
ESSE Nate Caddy behind 16.11.107 - 10.7.67 21:13
ESSE Peter Wright goal 17.11.113 - 10.7.67 25:45
MELB Rushed behind 17.11.113 - 10.8.68 29:16