Essendon coach Brad Scott will embrace the selection headaches ahead after Jordan Ridley’s seamless return to the senior side and an impressive debut from prized draftee Nate Caddy.
The Bombers reclaimed second spot on Saturday night with a 12-point Dreamtime at the ’G victory over Richmond, who defied a league-worst injury list to still be in contention in the dying stages for what would have been a mighty upset in front of almost 80,000 fans.
Instead, Adem Yze’s second-from-bottom Tigers suffered their 10th defeat in 11 matches despite Dustin Martin turning back the clock in game No.298 with three goals among his 23 disposals.
The sole blemish for Essendon was Nik Cox’s hamstring injury, which caused him to be subbed out at quarter-time, with scans to confirm the extent of the damage.
Richmond star Shai Bolton (concussion) will miss next week’s clash with Geelong after copping a knee to the back of his head in an aerial contest, while defender Tylar Young suffered a suspected ACL rupture in the VFL.
A pre-season quad injury delayed Ridley’s start to the year before he aggravated it in April, so this was Scott’s first proper look at how off-season recruit Ben McKay’s arrival would help Essendon’s 2020 club champion.
Ridley’s first match of the season could hardly have gone better as he finished with game highs of 12 marks and 14 intercept possessions before accepting the Yiooken Trophy as the best player afield.
“The way he played tonight – you can see why we just need to make sure that he’s absolutely right … if we brought him back [too soon], and he got hurt, then I’d never forgive myself,” Scott said.
“[Our medical staff] cleared him to play, but I made him wait another two weeks. There are very few players who can have a long layoff and just look like they haven’t missed a beat, and he’s one of those.
“It was a key part of bringing Ben in that it would solidify our defence and give us different options around that, and outside tonight, they had played only half a practice game together. Zach Reid is another one who is edging closer – he’s available, really, but we’ve just got to be really careful, in terms of his return to play.
“[Our medical staff] cleared him to play, but I made him wait another two weeks. There are very few players who can have a long layoff and just look like they haven’t missed a beat, and he’s one of those.
“It was a key part of bringing Ben in that it would solidify our defence and give us different options around that, and outside tonight, they had played only half a practice game together. Zach Reid is another one who is edging closer – he’s available, really, but we’ve just got to be really careful, in terms of his return to play.
