{"id":352102,"date":"2025-12-16T16:51:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T16:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/352102\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T16:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T16:51:19","slug":"will-setterfield-officially-back-at-essendon-six-weeks-after-brutal-axing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/352102\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Setterfield officially back at Essendon, six weeks after brutal axing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Essendon<\/a> have confirmed the signing of Will Setterfield, just six weeks after he was delisted by the club<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old was let go at the end of the season, but invited back to train with the club in case a list spot opened up.<\/p>\n

That opportunity came when Nic Martin was ruled out for the entire 2026 season<\/a> after re-injuring his reconstructed knee at training.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

Setterfield managed 13 games this year and was among the Bombers\u2019 best as he averaged over 20 disposals and seven tackles during a disappointing six-win season.<\/p>\n

His year came to a premature end in Round 18 when he suffered a foot injury.<\/p>\n

The club said Setterfield is still recovering from that injury, but is aiming to return early in the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Setterfield, who began his AFL career at the Giants before joining Carlton and then Essendon, is grateful for another season.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year you get to wear the club colours is a privilege, so I\u2019m really grateful for another season in the sash,\u201d Setterfield said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to working closely with our high-performance team on getting my body right. The club\u2019s support has been amazing, and we are in a really good spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be ready to give everything for the team in 2026. I can\u2019t wait to get back out there with the boys and in front of the Bomber faithful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Setterfield played 27 senior games across three years at Essendon, bringing his career total to 84.<\/p>\n

Originally taken with pick No.5 in the 2016 draft, Setterfield played two games at his first club GWS before joining Carlton where he managed 55 games in four seasons.<\/p>\n

He had struggled with injuries throughout his three years at the club but has been a valuable contributor when on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled for Will. He\u2019s had a tough waiting game over the last few months, so it\u2019s great to see a well-deserved opportunity open up for him,\u201d Essendon list boss Matt Rosa said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been terrific for us in a bunch of different midfield roles over the past few seasons and you just know the level of commitment and effort you\u2019re going to get when he\u2019s out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill\u2019s a popular member of our squad and the boys are rapt he\u2019s got another crack at it this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Essendon have confirmed the signing of Will Setterfield, just six weeks after he was delisted by the club.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,11231,1625,3863,588,85],"class_list":["post-352102","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-essendon-bombers","tag-lifestyle","tag-sponsored-content","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352102","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=352102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}