Preview: Hawks Ready For Dons
Another City Oval double header? Against the old enemy no less? Love it.
Who: Essendon
Where: Box Hill City Oval
When: Saturday, 2:05pm
TV/Streaming: Live stream available via the VFL Match Centre
NAIDOC Week
In honour of NAIDOC Week our VFL and VFLW sides will be debuting the Box Hill Hawks’ spectacular 2025 Indigenous Guernsey.
Designed by 10-year-old Jed Bennell with input from First Nations players Jack and Georgia Baldwin, the jumper tells the story of the Baldwin’s family and footballing journey in Melbourne’s east.
Bennell has also teamed with Inglewood Coffee Roasters to design the packaging for a limited edition Boodja blend of their world class coffee.
To celebrate, Inglewood will have a coffee cart on site brewing their delicious blends, with every cup purchased doubling as en entry in a competition to win a coffee machine!
Double Delight
For the second week in succession Box Hill City Oval hosts a VFLW-VFL double header!
A big day of footy kicks off with Hawks and Bombers butting heads in VFLW action from 11:35am, before the the first-placed Box Hill tackle the 18th placed Essendon in a VFL showdown from 2:05pm.
With Hawthorn’s match against the Dockers across the Nullarbor not scheduled to start until 8:10pm AEST on Saturday night, City Oval is the perfect place for Hawks fans to scratch their footy itch this weekend – and you’ll be home in plenty of time to watch Sam Mitchell’s men do their thing.
It’s the second time the the sides have met in VFLW competition in six weeks, with Box Hill getting the better of their old rival at Windy Hill back in round seven by 17-points.
Truthfully, the match-up shapes as a season-defining contest for both outfits. The Hawks sit second in the standings, one game adrift of the ladder leading North Melbourne in first place and half-a-game clear of the third placed Sandringham.
Essendon are one place outside the finals in seventh, six points back of the sixth placed Port Melbourne with three games to play. A sixth loss in succession would all but end the Bombers’ hopes of playing finals, while a win for Box Hill would keep the side in the hunt for the double chance.
Past Five Meetings
Round 10, 2024: Essendon 5.10 40 def. by Box Hill 16.16 112
Round 10, 2023: Essendon 8.10 58 def. by Box Hill 15.15 105
Round 7, 2022: Essendon 9.8 62 def. by Box Hill 23.18 156
Round 10, 2021: Essendon 7.9 51 def. by Box Hill 15.12 102
Round 19, 2019: Essendon 10.11 71 def. Box Hill 9.7 61
A Little Bit of History
Played 12 (since 2013) – Box Hill 7, Essendon 5
Box Hill welcome Essendon to City Oval for the first time since round 12, 2018 – some 2,575 days ago. Remarkably, it’s just the third time the teams have played at the venue since Essendon re-joined the VFL under their own name back in 2013.
Box Hill enjoy an excellent recent record against the Bombers, having claimed the last four match-ups by 51, 94, 47 and 72-points, respectively.
When the two old rivals last met it was the debuting Nick Watson who made some kind of statement, booting 4.3 from 22 touches in a truly magical display – but he was far from a lone hand.
Fellow small forward Chad Wingard also chimed in with four majors in a runaway victory, while big-man Max Ramsden was sensational on his way to recording a stat line of 23 touches, three inside 50s, six clearances, 27 hit outs, nine marks and two goals.
The midfield quartet of Finn Maginness (39 disposals, eight clearances, seven inside 50s, 12 score involvements), Cal Brown (37 touches, six inside 50s, four rebound 50s, eight marks, 14 score involvements), Harry Morrison (36 possessions, four inside 50s, 10 rebound 50s, nine marks, nine score involvements) and Josh Ward (33 touches, seven inside 50s, nine marks, 12 score involvements) were exceptional as a collective and, clearly individually.
So impressive were the Hawks, they kept the Bombers goalless to half-time to lead by 62-points at the main break, before easing to a 72-point win.
The Season So Far
Box Hill – played 13, won 11, lost two – first on the VFL ladder; form L, W, W, W, W
Essendon – played 12, won three, lost nine – 18th on the VFL ladder; form L, L, L, L, L
The Hawks come into Round 16 Looking to record a fifth win in succession against Essendon and a fifth win on the bounce in season 2025.
Were the Hawks to salute on Saturday, it’d be the first time the Club has recorded five wins in a row since rounds 15-19 of 2023 – a run in which the Hawks defeated Port Melbourne, GWS, North Melbourne, Richmond and Sandringham – and further consolidate their hold on top spot.
Last Sunday’s win over Sandringham moved the Hawks a game clear of Footscray on the VFL ladder – and improved the club’s percentage to a league-best 141.9.
While no one is looking further than Essendon this weekend, a win would set the scene for a hat-trick of season defining matches to come: an away day at the fifth-placed Williamstown, a trip north to tackle the third-placed Southport and, finally, a date with the second-placed Footscray in the penultimate round of the season.
As for Essendon, they’ve had an up-and-down season – obviously impacted by the horror run of injury the Club has endured at senior level.
They were three-and-three after beating Sydney at Windy Hill, only to see any and all momentum they’d built come undone as a line formed in and outside of the treatment room.
They’ve since fell to six losses on the spin – but been competitive in each of them.
A 22-point defeat by Richmond in round nine was followed by a 20-point loss to the Lions in Brisbane in round 10. There was another near miss against Carlton in round 11, with the Dons coming up 18-points short to continue a run of honourable albeit frustrating outs.
They lead the Demons at three quarter time of their round 12 meeting, only to fall away in the final term to lose by 29-points; before mid-season recruit Liam McMahon booted five goals in the six-point loss to Frankston in round 13.
As for last weekend against the Suns, the Bombers lead at half-time, trailed narrowly at three-quarter-time but lost the final term and, ultimately, the contest.
Despite their challenges on and off-field, Essendon’s average losing margin during this spell is just 18.5 points – telling us they’ll be up for a fight.
Selection News
The Hawks have made five changes to the side which successfully saw off the challenge of Sandringham a week ago, losing the elevated pair of Calsher Dear and Finn Maginness, who will both venture west with the senior Hawthorn set-up, while Kye Declase has been managed and developing duo Billy Hicks and Jamie Uhr-Henry have been omitted on team balance.
Max Ramsden returns to the Box Hill set-up off a run of impressive form at the top level – and will play his 50th VFL game – while Ned Reeves is back off a short spell with a minor knock.
Matt Hill and Ethan Stanley are two more names back from short stints managing general soreness, and they’re joined by debutant Griff Julian, who will make his VFL bow after crossing from West Perth in the off-season.
One(s) To Watch
This week we’ll go with a 50-gamer! Come on down, Max Ramsden.
Since joining the Hawks via the 2022 mid-season draft ‘Ramma’ has development nicely into a prototypical forward-ruck hybrid, booting 15 goals in his nine VFL games to date this year, while providing valuable stints on ball in the ruck.
2025 has undoubtably been his best campaign to date, with his strong form at the VFL level resulting in a stint in Hawthorn’s senior side between rounds 13 and 17. It was during this spell in the Hawks forward line he produced the best of his nine AFL games to date: a three goal performance in the Hawks’ big win over North Melbourne.
With more senior experience under his belt – and hopefully greater confidence as a result – he’s the perfect foil for Mitch Lewis forward and Ned Reeves in the ruck.
How To Follow
Match coverage will be provided via our social channels throughout the match, while a radio call will be available via our wonderful community partners at 3WBC 94.1FM.
Where to Watch
You can catch the live stream via the VFL match centre.
