Don The Stat

10/09/2026

🎙️ NEW EPISODE: How Quickly Can Spike Turn It Around?

The 2026 season is finally over so we handed the microphone to our Patreon subscribers for our annual post-season Q&A.

We discuss:

🏉 Whether Mark McVeigh will build on Dean Solomon’s foundations or start again
🎯 Essendon’s options at Pick 1
📈 Trading up for another top-10 selection
🔴 The players most likely to thrive under Spike
🧠 Building the right coaching team around him
🛡️ How quickly Essendon’s defensive system can improve
🏆 The realistic floor and ceiling for early days SpikeBall
🔄 Trade possibilities, draft manoeuvres and plenty more

There’s some cautious optimism, plenty of realism and our predictions for how many games Essendon will win next season.

A huge thank you to our Patreon subscribers for their questions and their support throughout the year. 🔴⚫

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

03/09/2026

🔴⚫ NEW EPISODE: 2026 SEASON REVIEW

The curtain has fallen on one of the most difficult Essendon seasons in recent memory.

It is time to examine exactly what went wrong, what changed after Brad Scott’s departure and whether the late-season defensive improvements under Dean Solomon provides any genuine hope for the future.

In our comprehensive 2026 Season Review, we discuss:

📊 The numbers behind Essendon’s struggles
🔄 The contrasting approaches of Scott and Solomon
🛡️ The improvement in pressure, tackling and defensive intent
🚨 Our centre-clearance and turnover problems
🧠 The game plan Mark McVeigh may introduce
⚡ The speed, skill and front-half connection the list desperately needs
🔴 Our three biggest positives and negatives
🌱 The development of Essendon’s exciting young players
💪 Peter Wright’s outstanding season
🔀 The futures of Ben McKay and Jordan Ridley
👀 Artie Jones, Dion Prestia and the latest trade discussion
🎁 Essendon’s potential AFL assistance package
🏟️ The VFL Bombers’ brilliant finals victory at Windy Hill

It was not the season anybody wanted, but did the Bombers begin laying the foundations for something better?

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

🔴⚫ Go Dons!

01/09/2026

Impatience. ⚠️

Examining Essendon’s Finals Win Drought.

22 years. No finals wins. No premiership challenge. So how did Esse...

31/08/2026

ICYMI.

Don The Stat, Bomber Banter and the Lunctime Catch Up sat down with Mark McVeigh last Tuesday in his first official interview as the new Senior Coach of the Essendon Football Club.

27/08/2026

🎙️ NEW EPISODE: ROUND 24 REVIEW | ONE SEASON ENDS, THE SPIKE ERA BEGINS

The 2026 season is over but a new era at Essendon has already begun. 🔴⚫

This week we discuss:

🏉 The narrow final-round loss to Port Adelaide
⭐ Nate Caddy’s brilliant six-goal performance
📊 The numbers behind what should have been an Essendon win
👏 Dean Solomon’s impact as interim coach
🎤 Mark McVeigh’s appointment and our interview with the new coach
🌱 The young Bombers giving us hope for 2027
🏟️ Essendon’s VFL elimination final at Windy Hill

It’s been a massive week and a difficult season but there’s plenty to unpack as the Bombers turn their attention towards the future.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. 🎧

26/08/2026

Damo with the most incorrect calls.

Colour us shocked.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/AFL/s/xTG1lq8iAY

26/08/2026

26/08/2026

The Need for Speed.

Mark McVeigh talks about the need to add speed to Essendon's list to support the new game plan.

25/08/2026

🎙️ THE FIRST INTERVIEW

New Essendon senior coach Mark McVeigh joins Don The Stat, Lunchtime Catch Up and Bomber Banter for his first interview since taking the job.

We speak with Mark about:

🔴 Returning to the club where he played 232 games
⚫ Why he believes he’s ready to become a senior coach
🔴 The lessons he’s taken from GWS, the Allies and Sydney
⚫ His vision for Essendon’s future
🔴 Developing the club’s talented young list
⚫ The standards he wants to establish

A wide-ranging introduction to the man entrusted with leading the Bombers into their next chapter.

Watch on YouTube or Listen Now wherever you get your Podcasts 👇

24/08/2026

Put some respect on his name.

"All heart, all in."