2026 AFL Season Round 15: Melbourne v Essendon

This is the match report for the match played on 13 June 2026 between Melbourne and Essendon during round fifteen of the 2026 season of the Australian Football League. Melbourne hosted Essendon at the MCG. Max Gawn captained the hosts. In the absence of Andrew McGrath, Mason Redman captained the visitors. The hosts were coached by Steven King and the visitors were coached by Dean Solomon.

Melbourne (13.17.95) defeated Essendon (6.14.50).

Match Details

Season: 2026 AFL Season
Round: Round 15
Teams: Melbourne v Essendon
Date: Saturday 13 June 2026
Time: 1:15 PM
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 41,438

Match Results

Outcome: Melbourne def. Essendon
Score: 13.17.95 - 6.14.50

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Melbourne 5 . 4 9 . 10 10 . 14 13 . 17 13 . 17 (95)
Essendon 2 . 4 3 . 5 6 . 7 6 . 14 6 . 14 (50)
Margin MELB by 18 MELB by 41 MELB by 31 MELB by 45 MELB by 45
Duration 29:46 30:29 28:39 27:16 1:56:10

Score Worm

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

Honour Roll

Melbourne

Captain: Max Gawn
Coach: Steven King

Essendon

Captain: Mason Redman (acting)
Coach: Dean Solomon (caretaker)

Brownlow Votes

Player Team # Votes
Kysaiah Pickett MELB 36 3
Max Gawn MELB 11 2
Will Setterfield ESSE 12 1

AFLCA Champion Votes

Player Team # Votes 5 4 3 2 1

Player Statistics

Melbourne

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
17 Bowey, Jake BPL 76% 0 0 28 21 7 5 0 0 0 1 0 1 8 1
37 Chandler, Kade CHF 86% 1 2 15 9 6 5 0 1 1 3 1 0 0 3
46 Cooke, Lukas HBFR 32% 0 0 7 4 3 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1
41 Cross, Paddy INT 70% 0 0 12 6 6 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 2
47 Fitzgerald, Joel INT 68% 0 0 26 13 13 3 0 3 5 5 0 1 2 3
31 Fritsch, Bayley FPR 79% 0 1 16 9 7 4 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 2
11 Gawn, Max (c) RU 81% 2 0 24 14 10 2 29 1 10 3 3 2 2 3
22 Howes, Blake HBFL 86% 0 0 18 11 7 9 0 5 0 3 0 1 3 1
44 Kentfield, Luker INT 68% 0 2 5 4 1 2 5 2 0 3 0 2 1 1
15 Langdon, Ed RO 86% 1 0 26 16 10 10 0 2 0 0 0 0 6 3
4 Langford, Harvey WL 76% 0 2 18 7 11 4 0 1 2 3 0 1 0 1
16 Laurie, Bailey INT 64% 0 2 14 10 4 4 0 4 1 2 0 1 0 5
8 Lever, Jake BPR 100% 0 0 15 6 9 5 0 0 0 2 2 2 0 1
18 Melksham, Jake FPL 78% 2 0 8 5 3 3 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 3
35 Petty, Harry CHB 84% 2 0 6 5 1 4 1 9 0 1 1 1 0 3
36 Pickett, Kysaiah HFFL 80% 3 1 32 26 6 5 0 2 4 3 3 0 3 5
24 Rivers, Trent INT 76% 1 0 23 13 10 10 0 3 1 2 0 1 1 6
30 Sharp, Harry HFFR 93% 0 0 20 9 11 7 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 4
32 Sparrow, Tom C 76% 0 1 24 15 9 4 0 3 8 4 0 1 1 4
9 Steele, Jack RR 76% 0 0 21 6 15 1 0 7 6 2 1 1 1 5
12 Tholstrup, Koltyn WR 81% 0 0 24 18 6 5 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 0
10 Turner, Daniel FB 100% 0 1 20 17 3 10 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 6
2 van Rooyen, Jacob FF 83% 1 1 9 5 4 2 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0
Rushed 4
Total (23 players) 13 17 411 249 162 111 35 51 38 46 17 16 35 63

Essendon

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
46 Blakiston, Lachlan FPR 80% 0 0 9 4 5 3 5 5 0 1 2 1 4 0
24 Bryan, Nick RU 81% 0 0 7 4 3 1 24 2 3 5 2 3 2 2
30 Caddy, Nate CHF 87% 1 1 12 10 2 4 0 0 0 4 2 0 1 1
13 Cox, Nik INT 79% 1 0 22 9 13 4 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 2
44 Day-Wicks, Archer WR 79% 0 1 10 5 5 3 0 4 0 2 1 1 0 2
22 Durham, Sam C 80% 0 1 23 10 13 3 0 8 4 3 2 1 1 0
28 Duursma, Xavier HBFL 80% 0 0 24 13 11 10 0 1 1 3 0 1 2 2
33 El Achkar, Hussien CHB 76% 1 1 8 5 3 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
2 Farrow, Jacob INT 82% 0 0 22 15 7 10 0 1 0 3 0 1 6 4
23 Jones, Harry INT 78% 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1
4 Langford, Kyle FF 70% 0 0 12 5 7 5 0 2 0 1 1 0 3 0
32 McKay, Ben FPL 79% 1 3 6 5 1 5 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 1
7 Merrett, Zach RR 86% 0 0 32 19 13 5 0 6 5 3 1 0 6 4
16 Perkins, Archie WL 84% 0 0 14 8 6 7 0 2 0 1 0 0 3 5
25 Prior, Jaxon BPR 91% 0 0 15 13 2 6 0 1 0 2 0 2 4 1
27 Redman, Mason (ac) HBFR 90% 0 0 24 14 10 7 0 2 1 3 0 2 2 1
31 Reid, Zach FB 88% 0 1 10 7 3 4 0 1 0 2 1 1 2 2
14 Ridley, Jordan INT 63% 0 0 11 9 2 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
21 Roberts, Archie BPL 40% 0 0 12 10 2 3 0 1 1 1 0 1 5 1
9 Robey, Sullivan HFFR 79% 1 0 9 3 6 0 0 3 2 4 0 1 0 1
12 Setterfield, Will RO 84% 1 1 34 20 14 6 0 3 7 2 1 1 3 6
15 Sharp, Dyson HFFL 81% 0 0 17 7 10 3 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 1
5 Tsatas, Elijah INT 65% 0 1 22 10 12 6 0 3 3 2 0 0 1 2
Rushed 4
Total (23 players) 6 14 358 208 150 100 30 51 29 49 16 17 47 40

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

Melbourne Coach: Steven King
BACK FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
21 A. Roberts 31 Z. Reid 25 J. Prior 11 M. Gawn (c) 41 P. Cross
31 B. Fritsch 2 J. van Rooyen 18 J. Melksham 9 J. Steele 47 J. Fitzgerald
FORWARD 15 E. Langdon 44 L. Kentfield
HALF-BACK

16 B. Laurie
28 X. Duursma 33 H. El Achkar 27 M. Redman (ac)

24 T. Rivers
30 H. Sharp 37 K. Chandler 36 K. Pickett



HALF-FORWARD



CENTRE



16 A. Perkins 22 S. Durham 44 A. Day-Wicks



12 K. Tholstrup 32 T. Sparrow 4 H. Langford FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
CENTRE 24 N. Bryan 13 N. Cox
HALF-FORWARD 7 Z. Merrett 2 J. Farrow
15 D. Sharp 30 N. Caddy 9 S. Robey 12 W. Setterfield 23 H. Jones
46 L. Cooke 35 H. Petty 22 B. Howes

14 J. Ridley
HALF-BACK

5 E. Tsatas
FORWARD



32 B. McKay 4 K. Langford 46 L. Blakiston



8 J. Lever 10 D. Turner 17 J. Bowey



BACK



Essendon Coach: Dean Solomon

Score Timeline

Quarter Team Scoring Event Score Time
Q1 MELB Rushed behind 0.1.1 - 0.0.0 01:17
ESSE Ben McKay behind 0.1.1 - 0.1.1 02:44
ESSE Hussien El Achkar behind 0.1.1 - 0.2.2 03:28
MELB Max Gawn goal 1.1.7 - 0.2.2 04:34
MELB Jacob van Rooyen goal 2.1.13 - 0.2.2 06:27
MELB Rushed behind 2.2.14 - 0.2.2 10:36
MELB Kysaiah Pickett goal 3.2.20 - 0.2.2 11:33
ESSE Sam Durham behind 3.2.20 - 0.3.3 13:49
MELB Bailey Laurie behind 3.3.21 - 0.3.3 18:21
MELB Ed Langdon goal 4.3.27 - 0.3.3 18:40
ESSE Will Setterfield goal 4.3.27 - 1.3.9 20:50
MELB Harry Petty goal 5.3.33 - 1.3.9 23:13
ESSE Rushed behind 5.3.33 - 1.4.10 24:30
ESSE Ben McKay goal 5.3.33 - 2.4.16 28:08
MELB Harvey Langford behind 5.4.34 - 2.4.16 29:40
Q2 MELB Kysaiah Pickett goal 6.4.40 - 2.4.16 04:32
MELB Max Gawn goal 7.4.46 - 2.4.16 07:08
MELB Luker Kentfield behind 7.5.47 - 2.4.16 09:25
MELB Harvey Langford behind 7.6.48 - 2.4.16 11:59
ESSE Nate Caddy goal 7.6.48 - 3.4.22 15:30
MELB Bailey Laurie behind 7.7.49 - 3.4.22 16:47
MELB Trent Rivers goal 8.7.55 - 3.4.22 18:36
MELB Kysaiah Pickett behind 8.8.56 - 3.4.22 21:24
MELB Kade Chandler behind 8.9.57 - 3.4.22 24:20
MELB Kysaiah Pickett goal 9.9.63 - 3.4.22 26:22
ESSE Ben McKay behind 9.9.63 - 3.5.23 27:54
MELB Daniel Turner behind 9.10.64 - 3.5.23 30:26
Q3 MELB Rushed behind 9.11.65 - 3.5.23 02:29
ESSE Nik Cox goal 9.11.65 - 4.5.29 03:59
ESSE Ben McKay behind 9.11.65 - 4.6.30 05:59
ESSE Hussien El Achkar goal 9.11.65 - 5.6.36 07:31
ESSE Sullivan Robey goal 9.11.65 - 6.6.42 09:23
ESSE Nate Caddy behind 9.11.65 - 6.7.43 11:27
MELB Luker Kentfield behind 9.12.66 - 6.7.43 13:56
MELB Tom Sparrow behind 9.13.67 - 6.7.43 16:49
MELB Harry Petty goal 10.13.73 - 6.7.43 25:57
MELB Kade Chandler behind 10.14.74 - 6.7.43 27:23
Q4 ESSE Archer Day-Wicks behind 10.14.74 - 6.8.44 01:00
ESSE Zach Reid behind 10.14.74 - 6.9.45 02:03
ESSE Rushed behind 10.14.74 - 6.10.46 03:21
MELB Bayley Fritsch behind 10.15.75 - 6.10.46 05:11
ESSE Rushed behind 10.15.75 - 6.11.47 06:56
MELB Jake Melksham goal 11.15.81 - 6.11.47 08:08
MELB Kade Chandler goal 12.15.87 - 6.11.47 10:34
ESSE Will Setterfield behind 12.15.87 - 6.12.48 12:39
MELB Jake Melksham goal 13.15.93 - 6.12.48 17:12
ESSE Rushed behind 13.15.93 - 6.13.49 19:06
MELB Rushed behind 13.16.94 - 6.13.49 20:38
MELB Jacob van Rooyen behind 13.17.95 - 6.13.49 21:46
ESSE Elijah Tsatas behind 13.17.95 - 6.14.50 23:08