IT IS the record that should give Essendon some optimism ahead of Wednesday night's AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft.
The Bombers, who have made a 6-4 start to the season, have been hit hard by injuries and are set to take as many as four players in the draft to replenish their list.
With two rucks (Sam Draper and Nick Bryan) and multiple tall defenders (Ben McKay, Jordan Ridley, Zach Reid and Lewis Hayes) out injured, they shape as the areas of greatest concern.
And there is some cause for optimism for the Bombers, who have managed to strike gold in the Mid-Season Rookie Draft since its re-introduction in 2019.
No club has seen mid-season draftees play more games for it than Essendon, which has yielded 209 AFL matches from those taken in the middle of the year.
Sam Durham (81), Will Snelling (64) and Jye Menzie (43) lead the group, while Massimo D'Ambrosio played 16 games in Essendon colours before joining Hawthorn.
Taken last year, Saad El-Hawli has played five games this year and is likely to add to that tally despite a hamstring injury suffered in the VFL last week.
Picked in 2023, Jaiden Hunter is the only player who failed to play a game for the Bombers after being selected in the Mid-Season Rookie Draft, with a hot spot stress injury in his back and then an ACL ruining the forward's chances.
The Bombers are one of only four clubs to have had players feature in more than 100 AFL games after being taken in the mid-season draft.
They are joined by Collingwood (168), Richmond (147) and Hawthorn (122).
John Noble played 112 games for the Magpies before joining Gold Coast, premiership hero Marlion Pickett's 91 lead the Tigers and Jai Newcombe (87) has been a key player for the Hawks.
On the other hand, some clubs have had far less success.
Geelong has only taken two players since the mid-season draft was re-introduced, with neither Zane Williams and Mitch Hardie playing an AFL game.
Fremantle (two games), Brisbane (four), Sydney (10) and Gold Coast (11) have also not had much luck, despite the Swans having taken an equal-competition high seven players.
Clubs with most games played by mid-season draftees
(must have been drafted by the club)
209 – Essendon
168 – Collingwood
147 – Richmond
122 – Hawthorn
98 – Port Adelaide
95 – West Coast
70 – Western Bulldogs
69 – St Kilda
59 – Carlton
46 – North Melbourne
45 – Greater Western Sydney
30 – Melbourne
17 – Adelaide
11 – Gold Coast
10 – Sydney
4 – Brisbane
2 – Fremantle
0 – Geelong
Most games played by mid-season draftees
(excludes games played before being taken in MSD)
122 – John Noble (Collingwood and Gold Coast)
91 – Marlion Pickett (Richmond)
87 – Jai Newcombe (Hawthorn)
81 – Sam Durham (Essendon)
64 – Will Snelling (Essendon)
58 – Cooper Sharman (St Kilda)
53 – Ryan Gardner (Western Bulldogs)
51 – Massimo D'Ambrosio (Essendon and Hawthorn)
