INJURIES, gameplan, a lack of development – where did it all go wrong for Natalie Wood and Essendon?
As first revealed by AFL.com.au, the Bombers have opted not to renew the contract of Wood for a sixth season, with the inaugural coach to see out the last week of the season, having won one game this year, and four the year prior.
Essendon has confirmed to AFL.com.au it will not be conducting an external review into its AFLW program, but will expand the scope of its annual internal AFLW review, given the appointment of Taylah Harding as acting head of AFLW (maternity leave cover for Aysha Ward) and the process to hire a new AFLW coach.
Given there's also a new footy department in the men's space, the double turnover in staff is also seen as an opportunity to better coordinate the two programs from the ground up under CEO Tim Roberts, who was appointed at the start of the year.
But what have been the major areas of concern over the past few years since making back-to-back finals in 2023 and 2024?
ARC WOES
While scoring is up marginally on last year (average 27.6 in 2025, 31.6 this year), the Bombers are the third-lowest scoring side this year, ahead of only Collingwood and St Kilda.
Emily Gough is in the comeback season from a torn ACL – which weakened the Bombers' forward line last year – and has kicked nine goals, with skipper Bonnie Toogood leading the way with 12 majors, and Sophie Alexander third with six.
From there, the next group of goalkickers have managed just three each. By contrast, Greater Western Sydney (one spot higher on the ladder), has six players who have kicked more than three goals.
A lack of accuracy is contributing to the low scores (second-worst accuracy in the League), but it's not all on the forwards, with Essendon averaging the fewest number of inside 50s per match.
Injuries to key defenders Brooke Brown, Zoe Prowse and Taya Chambers have contributed to serious leaks down the other end of the field, averaging a whopping 56 points against in 2026.
Last year, the Bombers conceded 46 points per match, and 33 the year prior, when the team made an elimination final.
The lack of talls this year has also contributed to a serious lack of competition overhead, averaging the fewest number of intercepts in the League.
LIST BUILD AND PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
Essendon has seen greater retention from its inaugural list build than others, mostly in the category of players from other AFLW clubs, rather than itsstate league signings.
Expansion list signings (non-AFLW): Georgia Nanscawen, Caitlin Sargent, Jo Doonan, Federica Frew, Danielle Marshall, Jordan Zanchetta, Jorja Bog, Renee Tierney, Bella Ayre, Eloise Ashley-Cooper, Olivia Barton, Alex Morcom, Lily-Rose Williamson, Megan Ryan
Expansion list signings (already AFLW): Maddy Prespakis, Georgia Gee, Bonnie Toogood, Steph Cain, Sophie Alexander, Daria Bannister, Cat Phillips, Jacqui Vogt, Sophie Van De Heuvel, Ellyse Gamble, Alana Barba, Jess Wuetschner
2022 draft: Amber Clarke (pick No.4), Paige Scott (No.8), Steph Wales (No.32), Mia Busch (No.35), Mia Van Dyke (No.46), Amelia Radford (No.62), Ash Van Loon (No.73)
2022/23 recruits: Brooke Brown, Kodi Jacques, Brooke Walker, Leah Cutting, Georgia Clarke, Matilda Dyke
2023 draft: Amy Gaylor (pre-draft signing) Emily Gough (No.20), Chloe Adams (No.38)
2023/24 recruits: Maddi Gay, Bess Keaney, Brooke Sheridan
2024 draft: Grace Belloni (No.9), Holly Ridewood (No.12), Taya Chambers (No.30), Sophie Strong (No.35)
2024/25 recruits: Courtney Murphy, Maggie MacLachlan, Amelie Gladman, Jess Verbrugge
2025 draft: Maggie Johnstone (No.10), Nalu Brothwell (No.50), Emma Dineen (pre-season draft)
2025/26 recruits: Zoe Prowse
The Bombers traded out their top draft selection, Clarke, for pick No.8, which was ultimately used on Grace Belloni, while Scott ultimately delisted themself and entered the draft after a trade to Richmond could not be facilitated.
Their first selection in the 2023 draft was given up in order to land Gay, ending up with a slightly later selection which was used on Gough.
New list manager Josh Moore took over ahead of the 2025 player movement period, and has only had one trade period and one draft so far to start shaping the list.
With minimal list turnover, particularly in the last few years, it's been incumbent on the coaches to develop players internally, rather than boost from the outside.
The question has to be asked – which Bombers have improved over the past two years?
Prespakis is in career-best touch, Toogood's form has gone in waves, Nanscawen had a stellar 2025 and a quieter 2026, and Gaylor has been a solid contributor with the occasional classy performance sprinkled through.
In the backline, Gay has been good when she's managed to be fit, Busch has had a handful of strong games, while Morcom is one who has genuine claims for one of the Bombers' most improved, and young key forward Gough has shown flashes while rebuilding from a torn ACL.
The flip side of the coin are the number of senior players who have either stagnated or dropped off, including Gee, Clarke, Van De Heuvel (albeit injury-affected), Walker, Bannister, Cain and Wales.
High draft picks Belloni and Ridewood still have plenty of time ahead of them, but have had minimal impact so far in their short careers.
PLAYER AVAILABILITY
Just like the men's program, Essendon's AFLW team has seriously struggled with injuries over the past few years.
Last year saw the Bombers need to name two top-up players within its squad of 24, having already signed two injury replacement players at the start of the season.
Bannister has had a series of unfortunate events, including a torn ACL, broken hand and ongoing knee soreness in 2026, while another recruit in Van De Heuvel managed seven games over 2024-25 due to knee injuries.
Gay had appeared to have put her lengthy injury history behind her upon joining the Bombers, but suffered an ACL strain last year, and a shoulder/collarbone collision injury this year.
She isn't the only one to have been brought down by the dreaded ACL, with Gough, Amelia Radford, Wales and Walker having suffered the injury over the past three years.
Of most concern this year has been the number of stress reactions and fractures, with Brown, Chambers, Dineen and Prowse all ruled out for the season with injuries of that ilk.
In the case of Brown and Prowse, both have struggled with stress injuries to their affected areas (leg and foot) before, with the latter having had surgery on both feet over the off-season, which was booked by former club Adelaide.
The club appointed Luke Meehan as its AFLW head of high performance at the start of the year, and it can often take a year or two for a new fitness and strength program to take full effect.
LACK OF A PLAN B
While there's no doubt that player availability (or a lack thereof) contributes to the development of fewer on-field options, there's been a clear paucity of on-field versatility.
Coaches love using the phrase "levers to pull", but in the case of Essendon, Wood's had very few at her disposal.
Gay and Gaylor have had stints on the ball supporting Prespakis and Nanscawen, but Mia Busch – who has plenty of upside with her pace, adding a different dimension to the engine room – has only been trialled through the middle once this year.
The addition of Gough has been the only real change to the forward line over the past few years.
At the start of the season, Wood and the Bombers players spoke about their new way of moving the ball which had been developed over pre-season, but it has very rarely been evident during matches.
That can sometimes be the case when trying to implement a new way to play – it can take time to bed in and mentally overwrite the old style – but it appears very little has changed at all over the past three or four seasons.
When a game began to slip away for Essendon, there was generally very little that could be done to stop the momentum, and time and time again, a match would trail off with Toogood trying in vain to almost create her own marking chain, with stagnant play around her in the attacking half.
The Bombers have struggled to form a distinct style of play and brand of football, particularly as the competition has taken big strides forward in the last two years.
