2026 AFL Season Round 23: Geelong v Essendon

This is the match report for the match played on 8 August 2026 between Geelong and Essendon during round twenty-three of the 2026 season of the Australian Football League. Geelong hosted Essendon at GMHBA Stadium. In the absence of Patrick Dangerfield, vice-captain Tom Stewart captained the hosts. Andrew McGrath captained the visitors. The hosts were coached by Chris Scott and the visitors were coached by Dean Solomon.

Geelong (17.15.117) defeated Essendon (7.8.50).

Match Details

Season: 2026 AFL Season
Round: Round 23
Teams: Geelong v Essendon
Date: Saturday 8 August 2026
Time: 4:35 PM
Venue: GMHBA Stadium
Attendance: 33,379

Match Results

Outcome: Geelong def. Essendon
Score: 17.15.117 - 7.8.50

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Geelong 4 . 5 10 . 9 13 . 11 17 . 15 17 . 15 (117)
Essendon 0 . 4 2 . 4 6 . 7 7 . 8 7 . 8 (50)
Margin GEEL by 25 GEEL by 53 GEEL by 46 GEEL by 67 GEEL by 67
Duration 30:20 30:37 34:15 31:26 2:06:38

Score Worm

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

Honour Roll

Geelong

Captain: Tom Stewart (acting)
Coach: Chris Scott

Essendon

Captain: Andrew McGrath
Coach: Dean Solomon (caretaker)

Brownlow Votes

Player Team # Votes
Bailey Smith GEEL 3 3
Oliver Dempsey GEEL 28 2
Ollie Henry GEEL 36 1

AFLCA Champion Votes

Player Team # Votes 5 4 3 2 1

Player Statistics

Geelong

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
30 Atkins, Tom RR 75% 0 0 15 7 8 1 0 2 5 2 1 1 1 2
46 Blicavs, Mark WR 69% 0 0 20 9 11 2 8 5 7 2 3 1 0 6
4 Bruhn, Tanner HBFR 76% 1 0 16 7 9 3 0 3 3 3 0 2 0 1
13 Clark, Jhye INT 77% 1 0 20 12 8 8 0 3 1 1 1 0 3 1
45 Close, Brad HFFR 80% 0 3 12 10 2 3 0 3 1 2 2 0 1 2
16 De Koning, Sam RU 76% 0 0 16 4 12 2 17 3 4 4 1 2 0 2
28 Dempsey, Oliver WL 89% 4 0 19 12 7 2 0 2 3 2 0 0 1 0
39 Guthrie, Zach HBFL 81% 0 0 10 7 3 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 3
38 Henry, Jack CHB 81% 0 0 17 15 2 6 0 2 0 2 0 0 5 3
36 Henry, Ollie CHF 82% 4 2 13 8 5 4 0 5 0 4 2 2 0 0
17 Humphries, Lawson BPR 79% 0 0 23 15 8 4 0 1 2 4 1 0 4 1
7 Mannagh, Shaun INT 80% 1 1 18 11 7 3 0 5 2 1 1 0 2 6
19 Martin, Jack INT 69% 2 0 10 6 4 2 0 4 0 2 1 1 0 3
32 Miers, Gryan HFFL 77% 0 1 9 5 4 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1
34 Mullin, Oisin RO 84% 0 0 18 11 7 2 0 4 5 6 0 1 0 5
33 Neale, Shannon FF 85% 3 1 12 5 7 4 10 5 1 2 0 1 1 2
42 O'Connor, Mark INT 70% 0 1 9 8 1 2 0 3 0 2 1 1 1 4
14 O'Sullivan, Connor FB 82% 0 0 10 6 4 4 0 2 0 3 2 1 2 0
2 Polkinghorne, Jay FPR 75% 1 1 3 3 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 1
3 Smith, Bailey C 82% 0 0 38 21 17 3 0 6 8 3 2 0 4 8
44 Stewart, Tom (ac) BPL 80% 0 0 20 15 5 10 0 0 1 3 1 3 7 1
21 Wiltshire, Oli FPL 75% 0 0 12 5 7 0 0 3 1 3 0 1 1 1
29 Worpel, James INT 75% 0 0 19 11 8 3 0 9 3 4 0 1 0 2
Rushed 5
Total (23 players) 17 15 359 213 146 77 35 70 48 59 19 21 34 55

Essendon

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
34 Artemis, Jaxon WR 82% 0 0 12 9 3 4 0 4 2 2 0 1 4 1
30 Caddy, Nate CHF 88% 1 0 16 9 7 5 1 2 0 6 1 2 0 2
6 Caldwell, Jye INT 61% 0 1 15 11 4 0 0 9 3 1 1 0 2 2
44 Day-Wicks, Archer HFFR 74% 0 0 10 3 7 1 0 2 1 5 0 3 1 1
22 Durham, Sam C 75% 0 1 13 9 4 3 0 3 1 3 0 2 0 2
33 El Achkar, Hussien INT 64% 1 0 4 2 2 1 0 3 0 2 1 0 0 1
2 Farrow, Jacob BPR 74% 2 0 14 10 4 2 0 5 0 3 0 1 0 3
40 Johnson, Zak INT 77% 0 0 8 4 4 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 2
10 Kako, Isaac FPL 77% 0 1 8 4 4 0 0 4 1 2 0 1 0 0
29 Kondogiannis, Max INT 74% 0 0 7 5 2 4 0 3 1 1 1 1 0 0
4 Langford, Kyle FPR 81% 0 0 13 7 6 3 0 3 0 2 2 1 1 0
1 McGrath, Andrew (c) BPL 78% 0 1 19 9 10 3 0 4 4 1 1 1 1 3
7 Merrett, Zach RR 84% 0 0 29 15 14 1 0 5 8 3 2 1 5 6
16 Perkins, Archie INT 73% 2 0 11 7 4 2 0 2 0 1 2 1 0 5
25 Prior, Jaxon HBFL 85% 0 1 17 14 3 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 5 1
27 Redman, Mason HBFR 92% 0 0 10 8 2 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0
31 Reid, Zach FB 88% 0 0 6 5 1 4 3 2 0 1 0 0 4 0
21 Roberts, Archie CHB 87% 1 0 16 13 3 2 0 3 2 2 2 1 6 3
12 Setterfield, Will HFFL 75% 0 0 17 5 12 1 0 5 2 3 1 0 0 3
15 Sharp, Dyson RO 80% 0 0 27 14 13 2 0 7 7 2 0 0 2 5
38 Unwin, Rhys WL 70% 0 0 4 0 4 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0
17 Visentini, Vigo RU 77% 0 0 18 11 7 4 33 2 2 2 3 1 2 4
20 Wright, Peter FF 84% 0 0 9 3 6 3 16 1 2 1 1 1 1 0
Rushed 3
Total (23 players) 7 8 303 177 126 51 53 72 36 47 21 19 38 44

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

Geelong Coach: Chris Scott
BACK FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
1 A. McGrath (c) 31 Z. Reid 2 J. Farrow 16 S. De Koning 13 J. Clark
2 J. Polkinghorne 33 S. Neale 21 O. Wiltshire 30 T. Atkins 7 S. Mannagh
FORWARD 34 O. Mullin 19 J. Martin
HALF-BACK

42 M. O'Connor
25 J. Prior 21 A. Roberts 27 M. Redman

29 J. Worpel
45 B. Close 36 O. Henry 32 G. Miers



HALF-FORWARD



CENTRE



38 R. Unwin 22 S. Durham 34 J. Artemis



46 M. Blicavs 3 B. Smith 28 O. Dempsey FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
CENTRE 17 V. Visentini 6 J. Caldwell
HALF-FORWARD 7 Z. Merrett 33 H. El Achkar
12 W. Setterfield 30 N. Caddy 44 A. Day-Wicks 15 D. Sharp 40 Z. Johnson
4 T. Bruhn 38 J. Henry 39 Z. Guthrie

29 M. Kondogiannis
HALF-BACK

16 A. Perkins
FORWARD



10 I. Kako 20 P. Wright 4 K. Langford



17 L. Humphries 14 C. O'Sullivan 44 T. Stewart (ac)



BACK



Essendon Coach: Dean Solomon

Score Timeline

Quarter Team Scoring Event Score Time
Q1 GEEL Rushed behind 0.1.1 - 0.0.0 03:36
ESSE Jaxon Prior behind 0.1.1 - 0.1.1 05:00
GEEL Oliver Dempsey goal 1.1.7 - 0.1.1 07:28
GEEL Shannon Neale goal 2.1.13 - 0.1.1 09:05
GEEL Ollie Henry goal 3.1.19 - 0.1.1 13:32
ESSE Rushed behind 3.1.19 - 0.2.2 14:55
GEEL Ollie Henry behind 3.2.20 - 0.2.2 16:49
ESSE Andrew McGrath behind 3.2.20 - 0.3.3 19:08
ESSE Isaac Kako behind 3.2.20 - 0.4.4 20:19
GEEL Rushed behind 3.3.21 - 0.4.4 24:30
GEEL Shaun Mannagh behind 3.4.22 - 0.4.4 26:49
GEEL Oliver Dempsey goal 4.4.28 - 0.4.4 28:08
GEEL Brad Close behind 4.5.29 - 0.4.4 29:16
Q2 GEEL Ollie Henry goal 5.5.35 - 0.4.4 04:45
GEEL Gryan Miers behind 5.6.36 - 0.4.4 06:42
GEEL Ollie Henry behind 5.7.37 - 0.4.4 07:19
GEEL Oliver Dempsey goal 6.7.43 - 0.4.4 08:10
GEEL Ollie Henry goal 7.7.49 - 0.4.4 10:38
GEEL Oliver Dempsey goal 8.7.55 - 0.4.4 14:59
GEEL Rushed behind 8.8.56 - 0.4.4 16:57
GEEL Jay Polkinghorne goal 9.8.62 - 0.4.4 18:22
GEEL Jack Martin goal 10.8.68 - 0.4.4 20:03
GEEL Brad Close behind 10.9.69 - 0.4.4 23:58
ESSE Jacob Farrow goal 10.9.69 - 1.4.10 27:46
ESSE Archie Roberts goal 10.9.69 - 2.4.16 30:35
Q3 GEEL Jay Polkinghorne behind 10.10.70 - 2.4.16 01:23
ESSE Sam Durham behind 10.10.70 - 2.5.17 02:54
ESSE Archie Perkins goal 10.10.70 - 3.5.23 06:01
ESSE Jye Caldwell behind 10.10.70 - 3.6.24 08:08
GEEL Ollie Henry goal 11.10.76 - 3.6.24 09:26
ESSE Nate Caddy goal 11.10.76 - 4.6.30 13:19
GEEL Shannon Neale behind 11.11.77 - 4.6.30 16:49
ESSE Jacob Farrow goal 11.11.77 - 5.6.36 18:14
ESSE Rushed behind 11.11.77 - 5.7.37 21:38
ESSE Hussien El Achkar goal 11.11.77 - 6.7.43 23:12
GEEL Jack Martin goal 12.11.83 - 6.7.43 25:41
GEEL Shaun Mannagh goal 13.11.89 - 6.7.43 27:13
Q4 ESSE Archie Perkins goal 13.11.89 - 7.7.49 02:05
GEEL Rushed behind 13.12.90 - 7.7.49 04:42
GEEL Rushed behind 13.13.91 - 7.7.49 11:01
GEEL Shannon Neale goal 14.13.97 - 7.7.49 12:59
GEEL Jhye Clark goal 15.13.103 - 7.7.49 17:44
ESSE Rushed behind 15.13.103 - 7.8.50 23:58
GEEL Shannon Neale goal 16.13.109 - 7.8.50 25:25
GEEL Mark O'Connor behind 16.14.110 - 7.8.50 26:46
GEEL Brad Close behind 16.15.111 - 7.8.50 28:09
GEEL Tanner Bruhn goal 17.15.117 - 7.8.50 31:23