2026 AFL Season Round 21: Hawthorn v Essendon

This is the match report for the match played on 25 July 2026 between Hawthorn and Essendon during round twenty-one of the 2026 season of the Australian Football League. Hawthorn hosted Essendon at the MCG. 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 hosts. Andrew McGrath captained the visitors. The hosts were coached by Sam Mitchell and the visitors were coached by Dean Solomon.

Hawthorn (19.18.132) defeated Essendon (5.9.39).

Match Details

Season: 2026 AFL Season
Round: Round 21
Teams: Hawthorn v Essendon
Date: Saturday 25 July 2026
Time: 4:15 PM
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 42,509

Match Results

Outcome: Hawthorn def. Essendon
Score: 19.18.132 - 5.9.39

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Hawthorn 3 . 5 9 . 8 14 . 14 19 . 18 19 . 18 (132)
Essendon 2 . 3 2 . 5 3 . 6 5 . 9 5 . 9 (39)
Margin HWTH by 8 HWTH by 45 HWTH by 74 HWTH by 93 HWTH by 93
Duration 32:45 31:47 31:00 31:42 2:07:14

Score Worm

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

Honour Roll

Hawthorn

Captain: unknown
Coach: Sam Mitchell

Essendon

Captain: Andrew McGrath
Coach: Dean Solomon (caretaker)

Brownlow Votes

Player Team # Votes
Jack Gunston HWTH 19 3
Jarman Impey HWTH 4 2
Josh Ward HWTH 25 1

AFLCA Champion Votes

Player Team # Votes 5 4 3 2 1

Player Statistics

Hawthorn

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
37 Barrass, Tom FB 58% 0 0 11 7 4 6 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0
24 Battle, Josh HBFR 91% 0 0 21 11 10 5 0 2 0 1 0 1 3 2
18 Chol, Mabior CHF 75% 2 1 9 8 1 5 2 1 0 4 1 0 0 1
16 D'Ambrosio, Massimo WR 83% 0 0 24 12 12 6 0 1 2 4 2 1 0 4
12 Day, Will C 72% 2 0 21 10 11 5 0 5 5 5 1 2 2 5
33 Ginnivan, Jack HFFR 86% 1 1 20 12 8 8 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 3
35 Greeves, Ollie INT 69% 0 1 16 8 8 8 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3
19 Gunston, Jack FPR 100% 7 2 16 16 0 11 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 2
15 Hardwick, Blake BPR 93% 0 0 22 12 10 8 0 2 0 2 0 1 2 2
4 Impey, Jarman HBFL 83% 1 2 37 27 10 12 0 1 0 4 1 1 3 9
2 Lewis, Mitch FF 14% 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
42 Macdonald, Bailey INT 73% 0 0 12 6 6 3 0 3 0 2 1 2 2 2
9 MacDonald, Connor INT 86% 0 1 26 14 12 9 0 3 5 2 2 0 1 7
28 Mackenzie, Cam INT 72% 1 1 23 9 14 6 0 6 4 1 1 0 2 3
17 Meek, Lloyd RU 76% 0 0 15 8 7 4 23 3 6 7 3 4 1 3
8 Moore, Dylan HFFL 84% 1 0 23 10 13 4 0 3 1 2 0 1 0 5
1 Morrison, Harry WL 83% 1 0 26 14 12 9 0 3 1 3 0 2 2 3
21 Mraz, Noah INT 84% 0 0 17 12 5 5 4 1 2 2 3 1 2 2
3 Newcombe, Jai RR 79% 0 0 28 16 12 5 0 2 4 6 5 2 2 4
6 Sicily, James BPL 90% 0 1 27 18 9 10 0 0 1 4 1 2 5 2
25 Ward, Josh RO 78% 0 0 33 15 18 9 0 4 4 3 1 1 1 4
5 Watson, Nick FPL 86% 3 3 14 7 7 3 0 3 1 1 2 0 0 0
23 Weddle, Josh CHB 82% 0 0 19 7 12 7 0 1 0 4 0 2 1 2
Rushed 5
Total (23 players) 19 18 462 259 203 148 29 47 38 65 24 23 31 68

Essendon

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
34 Artemis, Jaxon INT 78% 0 0 15 8 7 3 0 0 2 2 0 0 3 0
46 Blakiston, Lachlan RU 81% 0 0 13 9 4 3 29 1 5 5 4 3 5 3
30 Caddy, Nate CHF 88% 3 1 9 6 3 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
36 Clarke, Angus WL 81% 0 0 14 11 3 5 0 1 1 3 4 0 1 5
13 Cox, Nik INT 81% 0 1 6 6 0 4 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 2
44 Day-Wicks, Archer HFFR 69% 0 0 9 3 6 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2
22 Durham, Sam C 86% 0 2 14 5 9 5 0 7 4 4 1 3 2 2
33 El Achkar, Hussien INT 75% 0 0 7 3 4 0 0 7 0 2 1 1 1 1
2 Farrow, Jacob WR 82% 0 0 21 11 10 4 0 2 2 3 1 1 5 1
10 Kako, Isaac FPL 82% 0 1 11 6 5 2 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 1
29 Kondogiannis, Max INT 78% 0 0 7 4 3 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1
1 McGrath, Andrew (c) BPL 83% 0 0 20 13 7 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 7 0
32 McKay, Ben CHB 90% 0 0 5 1 4 2 1 2 0 1 0 1 0 0
7 Merrett, Zach RR 87% 0 0 22 7 15 3 0 9 2 0 1 0 2 3
25 Prior, Jaxon HBFL 87% 0 0 17 13 4 3 0 3 1 4 1 2 6 0
27 Redman, Mason HBFR 82% 0 1 19 12 7 5 0 2 0 2 1 1 2 3
31 Reid, Zach FB 95% 0 0 11 9 2 6 0 0 0 6 0 3 4 0
14 Ridley, Jordan BPR 16% 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
21 Roberts, Archie FPR 90% 0 1 21 15 6 4 0 1 1 1 1 0 4 2
9 Robey, Sullivan RO 48% 0 0 12 6 6 3 0 4 4 3 1 1 1 3
12 Setterfield, Will INT 78% 0 0 15 6 9 1 0 6 3 5 1 4 0 1
15 Sharp, Dyson HFFL 75% 0 1 21 9 12 5 0 8 0 1 3 0 1 3
20 Wright, Peter FF 88% 2 0 12 8 4 4 7 2 0 4 1 2 1 2
Rushed 1
Total (23 players) 5 9 302 172 130 73 37 59 26 55 23 24 47 36

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

Hawthorn Coach: Sam Mitchell
BACK FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
1 A. McGrath (c) 31 Z. Reid 14 J. Ridley 17 L. Meek 35 O. Greeves
19 J. Gunston 2 M. Lewis 5 N. Watson 3 J. Newcombe 42 B. Macdonald
FORWARD 25 J. Ward 9 C. MacDonald
HALF-BACK

28 C. Mackenzie
25 J. Prior 32 B. McKay 27 M. Redman

21 N. Mraz
33 J. Ginnivan 18 M. Chol 8 D. Moore



HALF-FORWARD



CENTRE



36 A. Clarke 22 S. Durham 2 J. Farrow



16 M. D'Ambrosio 12 W. Day 1 H. Morrison FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
CENTRE 46 L. Blakiston 34 J. Artemis
HALF-FORWARD 7 Z. Merrett 13 N. Cox
15 D. Sharp 30 N. Caddy 44 A. Day-Wicks 9 S. Robey 33 H. El Achkar
24 J. Battle 23 J. Weddle 4 J. Impey

29 M. Kondogiannis
HALF-BACK

12 W. Setterfield
FORWARD



10 I. Kako 20 P. Wright 21 A. Roberts



15 B. Hardwick 37 T. Barrass 6 J. Sicily



BACK



Essendon Coach: Dean Solomon

Score Timeline

Quarter Team Scoring Event Score Time
Q1 ESSE Sam Durham behind 0.0.0 - 0.1.1 03:17
ESSE Isaac Kako behind 0.0.0 - 0.2.2 04:12
HWTH Will Day goal 1.0.6 - 0.2.2 05:24
HWTH Jack Ginnivan goal 2.0.12 - 0.2.2 07:14
HWTH Jarman Impey behind 2.1.13 - 0.2.2 10:12
ESSE Peter Wright goal 2.1.13 - 1.2.8 11:39
HWTH Rushed behind 2.2.14 - 1.2.8 14:04
HWTH James Sicily behind 2.3.15 - 1.2.8 15:34
HWTH Nick Watson behind 2.4.16 - 1.2.8 21:58
ESSE Nate Caddy goal 2.4.16 - 2.2.14 23:08
HWTH Will Day goal 3.4.22 - 2.2.14 25:21
ESSE Dyson Sharp behind 3.4.22 - 2.3.15 29:37
HWTH Nick Watson behind 3.5.23 - 2.3.15 32:42
Q2 HWTH Mabior Chol goal 4.5.29 - 2.3.15 04:44
ESSE Nik Cox behind 4.5.29 - 2.4.16 09:20
HWTH Jack Gunston goal 5.5.35 - 2.4.16 13:26
HWTH Jack Gunston goal 6.5.41 - 2.4.16 15:07
HWTH Nick Watson goal 7.5.47 - 2.4.16 17:18
HWTH Jack Gunston goal 8.5.53 - 2.4.16 20:57
HWTH Rushed behind 8.6.54 - 2.4.16 23:27
HWTH Jarman Impey behind 8.7.55 - 2.4.16 26:13
HWTH Harry Morrison goal 9.7.61 - 2.4.16 27:32
HWTH Rushed behind 9.8.62 - 2.4.16 29:13
ESSE Sam Durham behind 9.8.62 - 2.5.17 31:29
Q3 HWTH Rushed behind 9.9.63 - 2.5.17 01:18
ESSE Nate Caddy goal 9.9.63 - 3.5.23 04:51
HWTH Connor MacDonald behind 9.10.64 - 3.5.23 10:43
HWTH Jack Gunston behind 9.11.65 - 3.5.23 12:53
HWTH Jack Gunston goal 10.11.71 - 3.5.23 13:44
HWTH Jack Gunston goal 11.11.77 - 3.5.23 15:30
ESSE Rushed behind 11.11.77 - 3.6.24 17:10
HWTH Jack Gunston goal 12.11.83 - 3.6.24 19:27
HWTH Nick Watson behind 12.12.84 - 3.6.24 21:21
HWTH Cam Mackenzie behind 12.13.85 - 3.6.24 25:41
HWTH Jack Gunston goal 13.13.91 - 3.6.24 26:41
HWTH Cam Mackenzie goal 14.13.97 - 3.6.24 29:29
HWTH Jack Ginnivan behind 14.14.98 - 3.6.24 30:53
Q4 ESSE Peter Wright goal 14.14.98 - 4.6.30 03:02
ESSE Nate Caddy goal 14.14.98 - 5.6.36 05:05
HWTH Nick Watson goal 15.14.104 - 5.6.36 07:30
HWTH Mabior Chol behind 15.15.105 - 5.6.36 08:36
HWTH Rushed behind 15.16.106 - 5.6.36 09:15
HWTH Mabior Chol goal 16.16.112 - 5.6.36 15:23
HWTH Jack Gunston behind 16.17.113 - 5.6.36 17:29
ESSE Mason Redman behind 16.17.113 - 5.7.37 20:07
ESSE Nate Caddy behind 16.17.113 - 5.8.38 22:50
ESSE Archie Roberts behind 16.17.113 - 5.9.39 24:45
HWTH Ollie Greeves behind 16.18.114 - 5.9.39 25:47
HWTH Jarman Impey goal 17.18.120 - 5.9.39 27:34
HWTH Nick Watson goal 18.18.126 - 5.9.39 29:05
HWTH Dylan Moore goal 19.18.132 - 5.9.39 30:36