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InjuryIQ

Hawthorn vs Essendon — AFL 2026 Round 20

Round 20

Match details

Home & Away
Round 20
Hawthorn
vs
Essendon
—
—Round Health Score (0–100), last 5 rounds. Scores drift down league-wide as the season's injury load builds — read the slope relative to the league, not the level.
Round health
—
—Round Health Score (0–100), last 5 rounds. Scores drift down league-wide as the season's injury load builds — read the slope relative to the league, not the level.

Round health not yet available.

Season —
Season —

Head-to-head

8Ongoing injuries9
0Long-term (LTI)4
6 dDays' rest6 d
2Games in 21 days2
0 kmLast month air km1,375 km
Squad stabilityHAW 5thESS 6th of 18

Value-weighted players used — 1st = most churn of key players, 18th = most settled. Weighted by player value (our metric), not raw squad size.

Soft-tissue = the OSIICS muscle/tendon family — the injuries most prone to recurrence (HAW 1, ESS 3).

What do these scores mean?
Round Health
— point-in-time (0–100, 100 = no injury absences), weighting current ongoing absences on a fixed scale comparable across rounds. The league average drifts down as the season's injury load builds, so low late-season numbers are normal.
Season Health
— cumulative season-to-date: value-weighted injury burden, availability and incidence. Load-managed rests are excluded from both.
Sat 25 July · 4:15pm·Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
State
VIC
Surface
Natural grass
Roof
Open roof
Capacity
100,024

Possible returns

Currently-injured players who could feature — fitness tests, squad signals and projected returns.

HAWno possible returns
ESS

Returnees to watch

Recently back from injury and still in the elevated-reinjury window — risk concentrates in the first games back, especially for soft-tissue.

HAW
  • Jarman Impeyback from hamstring · 1 game backSoft-tissue return — recurrence risk is highest in the first games back.
  • Karl Amonback from knee · 1 game back
    Recurrence
  • Henry Hustwaiteback from head/neck · 2 games back
  • Matthew LeRayback from head/neck · 2 games back
    Recurrence
  • Jack Gunstonback from foot · 2 games back
    Recurrence
ESS

Current injuries

The confirmed outs for both squads (16 across both), ranked by impact. Players in doubt are listed under Possible returns above.

HAW hold a slight availability edge (9 ongoing injuries to 8); ESS 4 of them long-term.

HAW8 out
  • Karl AmonDEF
    Recurrence

    Knee — Knee Injury (General)

    Moderate
    Due Aug 15
  • Jack ScrimshawDEF

    Knee — Meniscus Tear

    Moderate
    Due Aug 8
  • Henry HustwaiteMID

    Head/Neck — Facial Fracture

    Minor
    Injury-proneDue Aug 9
  • Jack Dalton

    Knee — Knee Injury (General)

    Minor
    Due Aug 22
  • Ned ReevesRUC

    Knee — Knee Injury (General)

    Minor
    Injury-proneDue this week
  • Josh BattleDEF

    Systemic/Other — Unspecified Injury

    Minor
    Due this week
  • Nick WatsonFWD

    Hamstring — Hamstring Strain

    Minor
    IronmanDue this week
  • Conor NashMID

    Head/Neck — Neck Muscle Strain

    Minor
    FragileDue Aug 22

Signals

  • 1recurrence
  • 3awaiting diagnosis
  • 3durability-fragile
  • Body regions:
    • Knee4
    • Head/Neck2
  • What they lose: 3 defenders, 2 midfielders, 1 forward, 1 ruckman

Recurrence flags repeat injuries to the same body region within 24 months.

Injury classifications use the OSIICS system (Orchard Sports Injury and Illness Classification System). © John Orchard — Free to use with acknowledgment.