\n Essendon announce two list changes.\n <\/p>\n
Essendon has informed Jayden Laverde and Todd Goldstein they won’t have playing contracts for the 2026 season with both players exploring other options.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Honest, reliable, and tough contributors for the Dons in their respective tenures, the Club and fanbase are thankful for their efforts.
\u00a0
Both players have signalled their intent to continue their playing careers elsewhere next season.<\/p>\n
Laverde was one of Essendon’s longest tenured active players, first joining the Club with pick No.20 in the 2014 National Draft.<\/p>\n
Although initially spending his early years as a mobile forward and navigating through battles with injuries, it was a move to defence in 2021 which saw the best from the 29-year-old’s career with the Dons.
\u00a0
He won the Club’s Most Improved Player that season, before backing up his work in 2022 with McCracken Medal and Adam Ramanauskas Most Courageous Player honours.
\u00a0
Laverde finishes his time with Essendon having registered 145 games and 38 goals.
\u00a0
Goldstein joined the Dons ahead of 2024 after a stellar career with North Melbourne, quick to establish himself as a fan favourite in red and black.
\u00a0
The 37-year-old often battled manfully against younger direct opponents over 30 games in Bombers colours, especially during a 2025 campaign ravaged by injuries to his fellow rucks.
\u00a0
Goldstein departs the Dons with 345 total games under his belt – having been an All-Australian and Syd Barker Medallist over his career, he is certified as one of the modern game’s premier rucks.
\u00a0
“We’re very grateful for both Jayden and Todd’s contributions in their time at the Football Club,” Essendon’s GM – AFL Daniel McPherson said.
\u00a0
“These decisions are always really difficult, especially in the cases of two players who’ve been incredibly serviceable.
\u00a0
“Jayden’s fight, leadership and courage down back were always highlights of his game and he was dependable whenever called upon.
\u00a0
“For Todd to come in and be as great a mentor as he has for our young players – and especially our rucks – in addition to contributing on-field speaks volumes of his impact.
\u00a0
“We wish both players and their families all the best for the next chapter in their careers.”
\u00a0
With the pair’s departure, there are now six confirmed list changes for Essendon ahead of 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Essendon announce two list changes. Essendon has informed Jayden Laverde and Todd Goldstein they won’t have playing contracts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-158250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-text"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158250","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=158250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}