# 2014 Essendon Football Club season

The 2014 Essendon Football Club season is the club's 116th season in the Australian Football League (AFL).

## Squad
### Trades

| Player | Traded From | Traded For |
| Kurt Aylett Shaun Edwards | Greater Western Sydney | Draft Pick #48 |
| Paul Chapman | Geelong | Draft Pick #84 |
| Player | Traded To | Traded For |
| Scott Gumbleton | Fremantle | Draft Pick #55 |
| Stewart Crameri | Western Bulldogs | Draft Pick #26 |

### Drafts

| Round | Pick | Name | From | League |
| 2 | 26 | Zach Merrett | Sandringham Dragons | TAC Cup |
| 3 | 55 | Orazio Fantasia | Norwood | SANFL |
| 4 | 66 | Lauchlan Dalgleish | Rookie Promotion | |
| Round | Pick | Name | From | League |
| No Picks |||||
| Round | Pick | Name | From | League |
| 1 | 9 | Fraser Thurlow | Labrador | NEAFL |
| 2 | 26 | Patrick Ambrose | Old Xaverians | VAFA |
| 3 | 41 | Johnny Rayner | Alternative Talent Program | |

### Delisted

| Seasons | Player |
| 13 | David Hille |
| 6 | Nathan Lovett-Murray |
| 7 | Alwyn Davey |
| 3 | Luke Davis |
| 2 | Hal Hunter |
* = Retired

## Results
### Pre-season
#### Game 1

| | Game 1 | Game 1 | Game 1 | | |
| Monday, 17 February 6:10 pm | Gold Coast 1.11.15 (90) | def. | Essendon 0.13.11 (89) | Metricon Stadium (crowd: 6,083) | Report |

#### Game 2

| | Game 2 | Game 2 | Game 2 | | |
| Tuesday, 25 February 7:10 pm | Essendon 0.9.11 (65) | def. by | Port Adelaide 1.11.15 (90) | Etihad Stadium (crowd: 8,022) | Report |

#### Game 3

| | Game 3 | Game 3 | Game 3 | | |
| Friday, 7 March 1:00 pm | Richmond 15.11 (101) | def. | Essendon 8.8 (56) | Punt Road (crowd: 2,100) | Report |

### Home and Away season
#### Round 1

| | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | | |
| Friday, 21 March 7:50 pm | North Melbourne | def. by | Essendon | Etihad Stadium (crowd: 42,332) | Report |
| | 3.0 (18) 5.3 (33) 8.5 (53) 9.6 (60) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 4.1 (25) 8.5 (53) 11.8 (74) 15.9 (99) | Umpires: Dalgleish, Mitchell, Mollison Television broadcast: Channel 7 | Umpires: Dalgleish, Mitchell, Mollison Television broadcast: Channel 7 |
| Thomas 4 Black, Dal Santo, Harvey, McKenzie, Wright 1 | Thomas 4 Black, Dal Santo, Harvey, McKenzie, Wright 1 | Goals | 4 Chapman 3 Goddard 2 Hardingham, Daniher, Watson 1 Howlett, Ryder | 4 Chapman 3 Goddard 2 Hardingham, Daniher, Watson 1 Howlett, Ryder |
| Thomas, Macmillan, Harvey, Cunnington, Mullett | Thomas, Macmillan, Harvey, Cunnington, Mullett | Best | Watson, Chapman, Goddard, Heppell, Zaharakis, J.Merrett, Hooker | Watson, Chapman, Goddard, Heppell, Zaharakis, J.Merrett, Hooker |
| Goldstein (shoulder), Cunnington (concussion) | Goldstein (shoulder), Cunnington (concussion) | Injuries | Nil | Nil |
| Dustin Fletcher plays game 379 breaking Essendon's Most Games Played club record previously held by Simon Madden since 1992. ||||||
| | Brownlow Votes | Brownlow Votes | Brownlow Votes |
| 3 TBA 2 TBA 1 TBA ||||||
| | Game Milestone | Game Milestone | Game Milestone |
| Debut Martin Gleeson Debut Patrick Ambrose Debut Zach Merrett Club Debut Paul Chapman 150 Games Ryder 50 Games Jake Carlisle ||||||

#### Round 2

| | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | | |
| Friday, 28 March 7:50 pm | Essendon | def. by | Hawthorn | Etihad Stadium (crowd: 44,163) | Report |
| | 1.5 (11) 3.7 (25) 9.10 (64) 12.14 (86) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 4.1 (25) 9.3 (57) 9.7 (61) 13.12 (90) | Umpires: Chamberlain, Meredith, Ryan Television broadcast: Channel 7 | Umpires: Chamberlain, Meredith, Ryan Television broadcast: Channel 7 |
| Ambrose 3 Hardingham, Carlisle 2 Zaharakis, Stanton, Hocking, Merrett, Chapman 1 | Ambrose 3 Hardingham, Carlisle 2 Zaharakis, Stanton, Hocking, Merrett, Chapman 1 | Goals | 2 Suckling, Breust, Rioli 1 Roughead, Hill, Gunston, Hale, Lewis, Puopolo, Simpkin | 2 Suckling, Breust, Rioli 1 Roughead, Hill, Gunston, Hale, Lewis, Puopolo, Simpkin |
| Hibberd, Goddard, Watson, Heppell, Zaharakis, Ambrose | Hibberd, Goddard, Watson, Heppell, Zaharakis, Ambrose | Best | Burgoyne, Gibson, Rioli, Suckling, Cheney | Burgoyne, Gibson, Rioli, Suckling, Cheney |
| Ryder (left ankle) | Ryder (left ankle) | Injuries | Hodge (groin) | Hodge (groin) |

#### Round 3

| | Round 3 | Round 3 | Round 3 | | |
| Sun, 6-Apr-2014 7:10 PM | Essendon | def. | Carlton | MCG (crowd: 62730) | Report |
| | 6.3 (39) 10.6 (66) 16.8 (104) 21.12 (138) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 0.3 (3) 3.4 (22) 6.8 (44) 8.9 (57) | Umpires: Fleer, Schmidt, Pannell Television broadcast: Channel 7 | Umpires: Fleer, Schmidt, Pannell Television broadcast: Channel 7 |
| Chapman, Winderlich 4 Hardingham, Stanton 3 Goddard 2 Heppell, Hocking, Melksham, Carlisle, Daniher 1 | Chapman, Winderlich 4 Hardingham, Stanton 3 Goddard 2 Heppell, Hocking, Melksham, Carlisle, Daniher 1 | Goals | 2 Ellard, Menzel 1 Garlett, Henderson, Murphy, Tuohy | 2 Ellard, Menzel 1 Garlett, Henderson, Murphy, Tuohy |
| Hocking, Chapman, Winderlich, Carlisle, Goddard, Hibberd | Hocking, Chapman, Winderlich, Carlisle, Goddard, Hibberd | Best | Walker, Simpson, Carrazzo, Gibbs | Walker, Simpson, Carrazzo, Gibbs |
| Ambrose (quad) replaced in selected side by Melksham | Ambrose (quad) replaced in selected side by Melksham | Injuries | Nil | Nil |
| Nil | Nil | Reports | Nil | Nil |

## Ladder

2014 AFL ladder :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | |
| 1 | Sydney | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2126 | 1488 | 142.9 | 68 | Finals series |
| 2 | Hawthorn (P) | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2458 | 1746 | 140.8 | 68 | Finals series |
| 3 | Geelong | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2033 | 1787 | 113.8 | 68 | Finals series |
| 4 | Fremantle | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2029 | 1556 | 130.4 | 64 | Finals series |
| 5 | Port Adelaide | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 2180 | 1678 | 129.9 | 56 | Finals series |
| 6 | North Melbourne | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 2026 | 1731 | 117.0 | 56 | Finals series |
| 7 | Essendon | 22 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 1828 | 1719 | 106.3 | 50 | Finals series |
| 8 | Richmond | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 1887 | 1784 | 105.8 | 48 | Finals series |
| 9 | West Coast | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 2045 | 1750 | 116.9 | 44 | |
| 10 | Adelaide | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 2175 | 1907 | 114.1 | 44 | |
| 11 | Collingwood | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1766 | 1876 | 94.1 | 44 | |
| 12 | Gold Coast | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1917 | 2045 | 93.7 | 40 | |
| 13 | Carlton | 22 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 1891 | 2107 | 89.7 | 30 | |
| 14 | Western Bulldogs | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1784 | 2177 | 81.9 | 28 | |
| 15 | Brisbane Lions | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1532 | 2212 | 69.3 | 28 | |
| 16 | Greater Western Sydney | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 1780 | 2320 | 76.7 | 24 | |
| 17 | Melbourne | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 1336 | 1954 | 68.4 | 16 | |
| 18 | St Kilda | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 1480 | 2436 | 60.8 | 16 | |

### Ladder progress

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | B | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | A |
| Result | W | L | W | L | L | L | W | W | L | B | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | D |
| Position | 3 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 |

## Tribunal cases

| Player | Round | Charge category (Level) | Verdict | Points | Result | Victim | Club | Ref(s) |
| None |||||||||

## Season Statistics
### Home attendance

| Round | Opponent | Attendance |
| 2 | Hawthorn | 44,163 |
| 3 | Carlton | 62,730 |
| 5 | St Kilda | 36,041 |
| 7 | Western Bulldogs | 33,289 |
| 9 | Sydney | 41,098 |
| 11 | Richmond | 74,664 |
| 13 | Melbourne | 44,626 |
| 14 | Adelaide | 30,948 |
| 17 | Collingwood | 58,996 |
| 21 | West Coast | 35,905 |
| 22 | Gold Coast | 33,281 |
| Total Attendance | Total Attendance | 977,965 |
| Average Attendance | Average Attendance | 44,453 |