Don The Stat

🎙️ NEW EPISODE: ROUND 24 REVIEW | ONE SEASON ENDS, THE SPIKE ERA BEGINS

The 2026 season is over but a new era at Essendon has already begun. 🔴⚫

This week we discuss:

🏉 The narrow final-round loss to Port Adelaide
⭐ Nate Caddy’s brilliant six-goal performance
📊 The numbers behind what should have been an Essendon win
👏 Dean Solomon’s impact as interim coach
🎤 Mark McVeigh’s appointment and our interview with the new coach
🌱 The young Bombers giving us hope for 2027
🏟️ Essendon’s VFL elimination final at Windy Hill

It’s been a massive week and a difficult season but there’s plenty to unpack as the Bombers turn their attention towards the future.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. 🎧

Damo with the most incorrect calls.

Colour us shocked.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/AFL/s/xTG1lq8iAY

🎙️ THE FIRST INTERVIEW

New Essendon senior coach Mark McVeigh joins Don The Stat, Lunchtime Catch Up and Bomber Banter for his first interview since taking the job.

We speak with Mark about:

🔴 Returning to the club where he played 232 games
⚫ Why he believes he’s ready to become a senior coach
🔴 The lessons he’s taken from GWS, the Allies and Sydney
⚫ His vision for Essendon’s future
🔴 Developing the club’s talented young list
⚫ The standards he wants to establish

A wide-ranging introduction to the man entrusted with leading the Bombers into their next chapter.

Watch on YouTube or Listen Now wherever you get your Podcasts 👇

www.youtube.com

Put some respect on his name.

"All heart, all in."

🎙️ NEW EPISODE | WIN or LOSE & PICK ONE?

The final game of Essendon’s 2026 season has arrived and even this one comes with a dilemma.

Do we desperately want one last win, or accept the consolation prize that could come with finishing last? 😬

This week, we:

🔴 Review the loss to Sydney and the encouraging response after quarter time
⚫ Preview Sunday’s clash with an injury-hit Port Adelaide
🎉 Celebrate Andy McGrath’s 200th game
👋 Consider what could be Zach Merrett’s final appearance for Essendon
📋 Make the calls on the club’s out-of-contract players
🏉 Discuss the VFL side’s charge into finals
⏳ Try to remain patient as the coaching announcement draws closer

Can the Bombers finish a difficult season by giving us one last rendition of the song?

🎧 Watch or listen now on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

We love getting messages from listeners (and non-listeners).

But don't be like Bob.

Our game and our club is for everyone. There's no room for racism.

💡Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

With one AFL game to go for 2026, Essendon still has a host of uncontracted players on its list.

Who stays? And who goes?

We have our say. Because, why not!

WHO STAYS? Essendon’s End-of-Season Contract Decisions It's that time of year where players find out their AFL futures.W...

🎙️ NEW EPISODE | GROUNDS FOR HOPE

After a promising start at Kardinia Park, one disastrous stretch allowed Geelong to tear the game open condemning us to a 67-point defeat.

We review the loss, unpack another costly mid-game collapse and find some genuine encouragement in Vigo Visentini’s third AFL appearance.

Then it’s onto Sydney. The second-placed Swans arrive at the MCG fresh from kicking 167 points but are there a few chinks in their armour. 👀

🏉 Can Essendon expose Sydney at ground level?
💥 How do we contain Heeney, Warner and Gulden?
📊 What do the numbers tell us about the coaching candidates?
✍️ Sharp and Farrow commit until 2030
🏆 Tim Watson enters Damian Barrett Award territory
🔄 Could Bryan and Visentini work as a two-ruck combination?

Plus, we preview a massive weekend for the club: the VFL playing for a finals berth, the AFLW beginning its season at Windy Hill and the men attempting to disrupt Sydney’s push towards September.

It’s the Essendon triple. Who’s taking on all three? 🔴⚫

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

📺 Watch on YouTube.