2026 AFL Season Round 17: North Melbourne v Essendon

This is the match report for the match played on 28 June 2026 between North Melbourne and Essendon during round seventeen of the 2026 season of the Australian Football League. North Melbourne hosted Essendon at Marvel Stadium. Nick Larkey captained the hosts with Harry Sheezel as vice-captain. Andrew McGrath captained the visitors. The hosts were coached by Alastair Clarkson and the visitors were coached by Dean Solomon.

North Melbourne (10.19.79) defeated Essendon (9.11.65).

Match Details

Season: 2026 AFL Season
Round: Round 17
Teams: North Melbourne v Essendon
Date: Sunday 28 June 2026
Time: 3:15 PM
Venue: Marvel Stadium
Attendance: 37,054

Match Results

Outcome: North Melbourne def. Essendon
Score: 10.19.79 - 9.11.65

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
North Melbourne 2 . 6 5 . 9 8 . 15 10 . 19 10 . 19 (79)
Essendon 2 . 2 4 . 6 5 . 8 9 . 11 9 . 11 (65)
Margin NMLB by 4 NMLB by 9 NMLB by 25 NMLB by 14 NMLB by 14
Duration 28:55 31:12 27:50 30:06 1:58:03

Score Worm

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

Honour Roll

North Melbourne

Captain: Nick Larkey
Vice-Captain: Harry Sheezel
Coach: Alastair Clarkson

Essendon

Captain: Andrew McGrath
Coach: Dean Solomon (caretaker)

Brownlow Votes

Player Team # Votes
Harry Sheezel NMLB 3 3
Luke Davies-Uniacke NMLB 9 2
Sam Durham ESSE 22 1

AFLCA Champion Votes

Player Team # Votes 5 4 3 2 1

Player Statistics

North Melbourne

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
39 Blamires, Tom HBFL 80% 0 0 19 9 10 4 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 1
21 Coleman-Jones, Callum FPR 47% 0 0 8 4 4 1 8 0 3 3 1 1 0 0
30 Comben, Charlie FB 93% 0 0 16 9 7 10 0 3 1 2 0 1 3 0
4 Corr, Aidan BPL 92% 0 0 13 8 5 5 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 2
5 Daniel, Caleb CHB 80% 0 0 40 24 16 9 0 2 1 1 0 0 3 2
27 Darling, Jack CHF 75% 2 0 12 8 4 4 0 2 0 3 1 1 1 2
9 Davies-Uniacke, Luke C 90% 1 0 25 10 15 3 0 11 10 1 2 1 0 5
18 Dawson, Wil INT 53% 0 1 10 5 5 3 9 1 0 1 0 0 0 3
7 Duursma, Zane INT 68% 0 1 7 4 3 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
31 Goater, Josh HBFR 73% 0 0 18 5 13 5 0 2 0 3 0 0 2 1
37 Harvey, Cooper INT 83% 0 0 24 14 10 6 0 1 0 3 0 1 1 4
41 Konstanty, Jacob HFFR 86% 2 1 9 4 5 4 0 4 1 3 0 1 1 0
20 Larkey, Nick (c) FF 81% 1 5 12 10 2 7 0 1 0 3 1 0 0 0
10 McKercher, Colby INT 78% 0 0 25 13 12 4 0 1 3 3 0 0 2 7
2 O'Sullivan, Finn HFFL 91% 0 0 21 13 8 6 0 2 1 6 2 1 2 3
26 Parker, Luke BPR 90% 0 0 31 18 13 8 0 2 0 1 1 1 4 1
3 Sheezel, Harry (vc) RO 83% 0 1 43 17 26 12 0 8 4 2 1 0 3 4
12 Simpkin, Jy WL 77% 1 1 19 12 7 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 2
13 Spargo, Charlie WR 80% 2 0 16 7 9 4 0 2 0 4 0 1 0 0
15 Stephens, Dylan INT 77% 0 2 24 12 12 5 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 7
47 Trembath, Cooper RU 77% 1 2 13 6 7 8 5 2 0 2 1 1 0 1
6 Wardlaw, George RR 59% 0 1 15 10 5 3 0 3 4 2 1 1 0 5
44 Zurhaar, Cameron FPL 89% 0 0 15 11 4 8 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 1
Rushed 4
Total (23 players) 10 19 435 233 202 124 22 51 28 49 14 12 31 51

Essendon

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
46 Blakiston, Lachlan INT 66% 0 0 8 4 4 5 9 2 1 2 0 1 0 1
24 Bryan, Nick RU 74% 0 0 8 4 4 2 28 2 1 0 1 0 1 2
30 Caddy, Nate CHF 91% 2 1 6 6 0 4 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2
6 Caldwell, Jye HFFR 74% 0 0 12 6 6 5 0 1 3 1 1 0 1 2
44 Day-Wicks, Archer WR 67% 0 0 14 7 7 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
22 Durham, Sam C 74% 2 0 25 9 16 4 0 6 5 1 1 0 0 3
28 Duursma, Xavier HBFL 82% 0 0 12 7 5 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
33 El Achkar, Hussien WL 65% 2 0 7 4 3 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
2 Farrow, Jacob CHB 86% 0 0 26 16 10 8 0 0 0 2 1 1 6 1
23 Jones, Harry FPR 79% 0 0 9 7 2 7 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1
10 Kako, Isaac INT 71% 0 0 4 2 2 2 0 2 0 4 0 2 0 0
1 McGrath, Andrew (c) BPL 92% 0 0 26 13 13 7 0 2 1 2 0 1 4 4
32 McKay, Ben FF 88% 1 1 7 3 4 4 0 2 0 2 1 1 0 0
7 Merrett, Zach RR 88% 1 0 22 15 7 7 0 3 2 3 1 1 4 1
3 Parish, Darcy INT 68% 0 1 25 13 12 2 0 1 6 2 1 0 2 3
16 Perkins, Archie INT 69% 0 4 12 9 3 7 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 3
25 Prior, Jaxon BPR 83% 0 0 13 12 1 6 0 0 0 2 1 0 3 1
27 Redman, Mason HBFR 82% 0 0 29 23 6 12 0 0 1 0 1 0 10 1
31 Reid, Zach FB 90% 0 0 16 11 5 7 0 2 0 2 0 2 1 1
14 Ridley, Jordan INT 72% 0 0 23 18 5 12 0 1 0 4 0 2 3 3
9 Robey, Sullivan FPL 83% 1 0 18 8 10 6 0 0 2 3 0 1 0 4
12 Setterfield, Will RO 78% 0 0 17 11 6 4 0 6 1 3 2 2 3 0
15 Sharp, Dyson HFFL 79% 0 0 21 9 12 6 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 4
Rushed 4
Total (23 players) 9 11 360 217 143 129 37 35 25 39 12 14 40 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

North Melbourne Coach: Alastair Clarkson
BACK FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
1 A. McGrath (c) 31 Z. Reid 25 J. Prior 47 C. Trembath 18 W. Dawson
21 C. Coleman-Jones 20 N. Larkey (c) 44 C. Zurhaar 6 G. Wardlaw 7 Z. Duursma
FORWARD 3 H. Sheezel (vc) 37 C. Harvey
HALF-BACK

10 C. McKercher
28 X. Duursma 2 J. Farrow 27 M. Redman

15 D. Stephens
41 J. Konstanty 27 J. Darling 2 F. O'Sullivan



HALF-FORWARD



CENTRE



33 H. El Achkar 22 S. Durham 44 A. Day-Wicks



13 C. Spargo 9 L. Davies-Uniacke 12 J. Simpkin FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
CENTRE 24 N. Bryan 46 L. Blakiston
HALF-FORWARD 7 Z. Merrett 10 I. Kako
15 D. Sharp 30 N. Caddy 6 J. Caldwell 12 W. Setterfield 3 D. Parish
31 J. Goater 5 C. Daniel 39 T. Blamires

16 A. Perkins
HALF-BACK

14 J. Ridley
FORWARD



9 S. Robey 32 B. McKay 23 H. Jones



26 L. Parker 30 C. Comben 4 A. Corr



BACK



Essendon Coach: Dean Solomon

Score Timeline

Quarter Team Scoring Event Score Time
Q1 NMLB Luke Davies-Uniacke goal 1.0.6 - 0.0.0 01:14
NMLB Nick Larkey behind 1.1.7 - 0.0.0 02:48
ESSE Sam Durham goal 1.1.7 - 1.0.6 04:12
NMLB Nick Larkey behind 1.2.8 - 1.0.6 07:43
NMLB Cooper Trembath behind 1.3.9 - 1.0.6 12:47
ESSE Ben McKay goal 1.3.9 - 2.0.12 14:27
ESSE Ben McKay behind 1.3.9 - 2.1.13 16:15
ESSE Darcy Parish behind 1.3.9 - 2.2.14 17:09
NMLB Dylan Stephens behind 1.4.10 - 2.2.14 19:12
NMLB George Wardlaw behind 1.5.11 - 2.2.14 22:21
NMLB Jy Simpkin goal 2.5.17 - 2.2.14 24:08
NMLB Zane Duursma behind 2.6.18 - 2.2.14 28:12
Q2 NMLB Jacob Konstanty goal 3.6.24 - 2.2.14 05:14
NMLB Nick Larkey behind 3.7.25 - 2.2.14 07:48
ESSE Sam Durham goal 3.7.25 - 3.2.20 08:49
ESSE Sullivan Robey goal 3.7.25 - 4.2.26 10:27
ESSE Archie Perkins behind 3.7.25 - 4.3.27 14:17
ESSE Rushed behind 3.7.25 - 4.4.28 15:22
ESSE Archie Perkins behind 3.7.25 - 4.5.29 16:20
NMLB Jacob Konstanty goal 4.7.31 - 4.5.29 17:33
NMLB Jack Darling goal 5.7.37 - 4.5.29 21:20
NMLB Dylan Stephens behind 5.8.38 - 4.5.29 26:48
ESSE Nate Caddy behind 5.8.38 - 4.6.30 28:46
NMLB Rushed behind 5.9.39 - 4.6.30 30:44
Q3 NMLB Jack Darling goal 6.9.45 - 4.6.30 02:00
NMLB Jy Simpkin behind 6.10.46 - 4.6.30 04:40
NMLB Cooper Trembath goal 7.10.52 - 4.6.30 05:53
NMLB Charlie Spargo goal 8.10.58 - 4.6.30 09:54
NMLB Nick Larkey behind 8.11.59 - 4.6.30 11:54
NMLB Wil Dawson behind 8.12.60 - 4.6.30 15:51
ESSE Hussien El Achkar goal 8.12.60 - 5.6.36 17:34
NMLB Rushed behind 8.13.61 - 5.6.36 18:48
ESSE Rushed behind 8.13.61 - 5.7.37 21:55
NMLB Cooper Trembath behind 8.14.62 - 5.7.37 23:06
NMLB Rushed behind 8.15.63 - 5.7.37 24:54
ESSE Archie Perkins behind 8.15.63 - 5.8.38 27:00
Q4 ESSE Rushed behind 8.15.63 - 5.9.39 00:20
NMLB Rushed behind 8.16.64 - 5.9.39 00:59
ESSE Rushed behind 8.16.64 - 5.10.40 02:35
ESSE Nate Caddy goal 8.16.64 - 6.10.46 05:02
NMLB Nick Larkey goal 9.16.70 - 6.10.46 07:13
NMLB Nick Larkey behind 9.17.71 - 6.10.46 10:18
NMLB Jacob Konstanty behind 9.18.72 - 6.10.46 10:29
NMLB Harry Sheezel behind 9.19.73 - 6.10.46 11:24
ESSE Hussien El Achkar goal 9.19.73 - 7.10.52 15:59
ESSE Zach Merrett goal 9.19.73 - 8.10.58 17:42
ESSE Archie Perkins behind 9.19.73 - 8.11.59 20:10
NMLB Charlie Spargo goal 10.19.79 - 8.11.59 21:58
ESSE Nate Caddy goal 10.19.79 - 9.11.65 27:07