# 2017 Essendon Football Club season

The 2017 Essendon Football Club season is Essendon's 119th season in the Australian Football League.

## Season summary
### Pre-season

| Week | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | Ref. |
| Week | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Margin | Venue | Attendance | Ref. |
| 1 | Thursday, 16 February (7:40 pm) | Collingwood | 2.13.9 (105) | 0.14.10 (94) | Lost by 11 points | Etihad Stadium (A) | 16,521 | |
| 2 | Sunday, 26 February (3:40 pm) | Gold Coast | 0.12.7 (79) | 0.12.4 (76) | Lost by 3 points | Harrup Park Country Club (A) | 3,893 | |
| 3 | Sunday, 12 March (4:10 pm) | Geelong | 1.17.11 (122) | 2.12.10 (100) | Lost by 22 points | Queen Elizabeth Oval (A) | 8,391 | |

### Home and Away season

| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | Ref. |
| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Margin | Venue | Attendance | Ref. |
| 1 | Saturday, 25 March (7:25 pm) | Hawthorn | 17.14 (116) | 12.19 (91) | Won by 25 points | MCG (H) | 78,294 | |
| 2 | Saturday, 1 April (6:25 pm) | Brisbane Lions | 12.12 (84) | 17.9 (111) | Won by 27 points | Gabba (A) | 21,749 | |
| 3 | Sunday, 9 April (3:20 pm) | Carlton | 7.15 (57) | 6.6 (42) | Lost by 15 points | MCG (A) | 48,022 | |
| 4 | Saturday, 15 April (7:10 pm) | Adelaide | 24.9 (153) | 13.10 (88) | Lost by 65 points | Adelaide Oval (A) | 47,492 | |
| 5 | Tuesday, 25 April (3:20 pm) | Collingwood | 15.10 (100) | 11.16 (82) | Won by 18 points | MCG (H) | 87,685 | |
| 6 | Sunday, 30 April (1:10 pm) | Melbourne | 10.14 (74) | 17.10 (112) | Lost by 38 points | Etihad Stadium (H) | 44,040 | |
| 7 | Sunday, 7 May (2:40 pm) | Fremantle | 17.14 (116) | 11.13 (79) | Lost by 37 points | Domain Stadium (A) | 33,393 | |
| 8 | Saturday, 13 May (7:25 pm) | Geelong | 17.8 (110) | 13.15 (93) | Won by 17 points | MCG (H) | 57,172 | |
| 9 | Sunday, 21 May (1:10 pm) | West Coast | 19.11 (125) | 8.16 (64) | Won by 61 points | Etihad Stadium (H) | 36,403 | |
| 10 | Saturday, 27 May (7:25 pm) | Richmond | 11.15 (81) | 10.6 (66) | Lost by 15 points | MCG (A) | 85,656 | |
| 11 | Saturday, 3 June (4:35 pm) | Greater Western Sydney | 18.9 (117) | 15.11 (101) | Lost by 16 points | Spotless Stadium (A) | 13,671 | |
| 12 | Saturday, 10 June (7:25 pm) | Port Adelaide | 19.17 (131) | 8.13 (61) | Won by 70 points | Etihad Stadium (H) | 34,022 | |
| 13 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 14 | Friday, 23 June (7:50 pm) | Sydney | 11.20 (86) | 12.13 (85) | Lost by 1 point | SCG (A) | 34,575 | |
| 15 | Sunday, 2 July (1:10 pm) | Brisbane Lions | 11.16 (82) | 13.12 (90) | Lost by 8 points | Etihad Stadium (H) | 41,246 | |
| 16 | Saturday, 8 July (2:10 pm) | Collingwood | 12.8 (80) | 18.9 (117) | Won by 37 points | MCG (A) | 63,537 | |
| 17 | Friday, 14 July (7:50 pm) | St Kilda | 7.15 (57) | 17.16 (118) | Won by 61 points | Etihad Stadium (A) | 47,156 | |
| 18 | Saturday, 22 July (1:45 pm) | North Melbourne | 20.12 (132) | 16.9 (105) | Won by 27 points | Etihad Stadium (H) | 40,359 | |
| 19 | Sunday, 30 July (1:10 pm) | Western Bulldogs | 19.13 (127) | 13.19 (97) | Lost by 30 points | Etihad Stadium (A) | 48,754 | |
| 20 | Saturday, 5 August (2:10 pm) | Carlton | 11.18 (84) | 11.10 (76) | Won by 8 points | MCG (H) | 58,562 | |
| 21 | Saturday, 12 August (7:25 pm) | Adelaide | 12.8 (80) | 18.15 (123) | Lost by 43 points | Etihad Stadium (H) | 38,487 | |
| 22 | Saturday, 19 August (7:25 pm) | Gold Coast | 9.3 (57) | 12.18 (90) | Won by 33 points | Metricon Stadium (A) | 16,817 | |
| 23 | Sunday, 27 August (1:10 pm) | Fremantle | 16.11 (107) | 14.8 (92) | Won by 15 points | Etihad Stadium (H) | 42,665 | |

### Finals

| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | Ref. |
| Round | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Margin | Venue | Attendance | Ref. |
| EF2 | Saturday, 9 September (4:20 pm) | Sydney | 19.7 (121) | 8.8 (56) | Lost by 65 points | SCG | 46,323 | |

### Ladder

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Adelaide | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 2415 | 1776 | 136.0 | 62 | 2017 finals |
| 2 | Geelong | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 2134 | 1818 | 117.4 | 62 | 2017 finals |
| 3 | Richmond (P) | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 1992 | 1684 | 118.3 | 60 | 2017 finals |
| 4 | Greater Western Sydney | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 2081 | 1812 | 114.8 | 60 | 2017 finals |
| 5 | Port Adelaide | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 2168 | 1671 | 129.7 | 56 | 2017 finals |
| 6 | Sydney | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 2093 | 1651 | 126.8 | 56 | 2017 finals |
| 7 | Essendon | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2135 | 2004 | 106.5 | 48 | 2017 finals |
| 8 | West Coast | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 1964 | 1858 | 105.7 | 48 | 2017 finals |
| 9 | Melbourne | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2035 | 1934 | 105.2 | 48 | |
| 10 | Western Bulldogs | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1857 | 1913 | 97.1 | 44 | |
| 11 | St Kilda | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1925 | 1986 | 96.9 | 44 | |
| 12 | Hawthorn | 22 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 1864 | 2055 | 90.7 | 42 | |
| 13 | Collingwood | 22 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 1944 | 1963 | 99.0 | 38 | |
| 14 | Fremantle | 22 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 1607 | 2160 | 74.4 | 32 | |
| 15 | North Melbourne | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 1983 | 2264 | 87.6 | 24 | |
| 16 | Carlton | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 1594 | 2038 | 78.2 | 24 | |
| 17 | Gold Coast | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 1756 | 2311 | 76.0 | 24 | |
| 18 | Brisbane Lions | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 1877 | 2526 | 74.3 | 20 | |