\n Three more Dons are locked in for another year in the red and black, with Jaxon Prior, Liam McMahon and Lachlan Blakiston all re-signing until the end of 2026.\n <\/p>\n
The re-signings add to a group of recent signatures for Essendon, who\u2019ve seen young talent such as Archie Roberts, Jayden Nguyen, Nick Bryan and Vigo Visentini all extend in recent weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The trio have taken unique journeys to the NEC Hangar, with McMahon and Blakiston both selected during the 2025 Mid-Season Rookie Draft, and Prior during the\u00a0Supplemental Selection Period last November.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prior’s first year at Essendon has gotten off to a strong start. The defender proved his value in a challenging season by becoming a constant in the backline, with 23 appearances to his name\u2014making him one of just four Bombers to play in every game this year.<\/p>\n
Grateful for the opportunity, Prior is determined to continue working hard into the new year and is positive about what the side has to offer in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel very grateful to sign on at a club that gave me an opportunity after being delisted,\u201d Prior said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn’t sure how I was going to go this season, coming into a new environment was quite nerve racking but I was able to get a strong foundation physically which allowed me to get to work on the relationships, game-plan and the mental side of the game.\u00a0I’m very confident in this group and their professionalism that over pre-season they’ll do everything right to get ready for a big 2026 campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n
McMahon has proven to be an exciting prospect for the side, with 12 goals to his name after just seven games in the sash.\u00a0Essendon\u2019s 13th\u00a0debutant of the 2025 season is ready to continue what was a dream come true of playing at an AFL level.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t be more grateful to have been given another year to develop and show my strengths at AFL level,\u201d McMahon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really determined to repay the Club for the faith they\u2019ve shown in giving me the chance to fulfill my dream.\u00a0My family, friends and partner Charlotte are all enormous supports for me and have been in my corner every step of the way. I\u2019m just really keen for more opportunities to play in front of the red and black faithful in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another of the Dons\u2019 mid-season rookie draftees, Blakiston was drafted from East Fremantle in the WAFL, with the No.13 pick showing versatility in spades since his debut in round 14 against Geelong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Traditionally a ruck, Blakiston has spent his time at Essendon playing in multiple positions but has found a comfortable rhythm in the backline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With his eyes set on continuing his early consistency for the Bombers, Blakiston is thankful and eager to enter his first AFL pre-season with the Dons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe past few months have been an incredible experience, coming in as a mature ager I was super grateful to be given the opportunity,\u201d Blakiston said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cPlaying a new role was challenging but also rewarding. It allowed me to develop my game and become more versatile. Being given another year to don the sash is so exciting and something I\u2019m really looking forward to. I\u2019ve loved being part of this Club and don\u2019t take this opportunity lightly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three more Dons are locked in for another year in the red and black, with Jaxon Prior, Liam…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":["post-131566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}