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InjuryIQ

North Melbourne vs Essendon — AFL 2026 Round 16

Round 16

Match details

Home & Away
Round 16
Full time
North Melbourne
79–65
Essendon
4th
of 18 · index 78Round 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
17th
of 18 · index 0Round 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.
NTH entered healthier — 4th v 17th this round
Season 8th of 18 · index 55+4vs season
Season 16th of 18 · index 23

Head-to-head

8Ongoing injuries9
3Long-term (LTI)4
7 dDays' rest15 d
2Games in 21 days2
2,685 kmLast month air km2,718 km
Squad stabilityNTH 12thESS 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 (NTH 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.
Sun 28 June · 3:15pm·Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
State
VIC
Surface
Hybrid surface
Roof
Retractable roof
Capacity
56,347

Injuries from this game

What this game cost — players hurt in it, OSIICS-classified, each linked to its injury record.

NTH
  • •George Wardlaw
    Minor
    Knee· typically ~1 gameRight knee injury sustained in-game during Round 16 vs Essendon.
ESS

No injuries reported

Back from injury

Players who returned from injury in this game, each linking to their profile.

NTH

None returned

ESS

Current injuries

Every ongoing injury carried by each squad today (17 across both). Injuries sustained in this game are in the casualty report above.

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

NTH
  • Toby PinkDEF
    LTI

    Shoulder — Shoulder Dislocation

    Long-term
    FragileDue Oct 1
  • Blake Thredgold
    LTI

    Ankle/Foot — Foot Fracture

    Long-term
    Due Oct 1
  • Jackson ArcherDEF
    LTI

    Knee — ACL Tear

    Long-term
    Injury-proneDue Jan 11, 2027
  • Tom PowellMID

    Groin/Hip — Groin Strain

    Minor
    Due Jul 25
  • Josh GoaterDEF

    Managed

    Minor
    Possible return
    Injury-proneDue today
  • Tom Blamires

    Head/Neck — Concussion

    Minor
    Due this week
  • Jacob KonstantyFWD

    Managed

    Minor
    Possible return
    Due today
  • George WardlawMID
    Recurrence

    Hamstring — Hamstring Strain

    Minor
    FragileDue Aug 8

Signals

  • 1recurrence
  • 4durability-fragile
  • Body regions: 2× systemic/other
  • What they lose: 3 of 6 outs are defenders

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.