Essendon’s tough season just got tougher.
The Bombers will be without exciting small forward Isaac Kako for the “short-to-medium term” after sustaining a back stress fracture.
Kako, 20, pulled up sore from the Anzac Day defeat to Collingwood and scans confirmed his setback.
Essendon general manager Daniel McPherson said Kako would “enter a period of rest”.
“It’s a really disappointing setback for Isaac, who’d been playing some exciting footy for us in the early stages of this season,” McPherson said.
“He’ll need to enter a period of rest now to let the injury settle before building back up towards a return to play later in the season.”
The Bombers had two weeks of strong football, defeating Melbourne and challenging Gold Coast Suns.
But they regressed against the Magpies on Anzac Day by conceding 15 goals in the second half.
Essendon coach Brad Scott post-game said his group was overawed by the occasion.
“We were in it to halftime, but we weren’t playing well either, so there was a real sense that the game was going to break open in the second half,” he said.
“We just didn’t handle the occasion well at all, even though our pressure and everything was OK early.
“It’s incredibly frustrating because we came for a really important day, a big occasion and opportunity to play in games like that where outside of finals you don’t get a bigger game, bigger crowds, bigger stage, which creates big moments.
“Repeatedly we weren’t able to handle those moments, so we weren’t able to handle the occasion, we weren’t about to handle Collingwood’s pressure.
“Even worse, we weren’t able to stand up under perceived pressure which wasn’t even there.”
The Bombers face no reprieve after the difficult loss, welcoming reigning premier Brisbane Lions to Marvel Stadium next Saturday.
Originally published as AFL 2026: Essendon’s Isaac Kako sidelined with back stress fracture