The Hit List Volume Five – Jordan Ridley

You don’t have to look too far to find someone with the knives out for the Bombers as we roll towards the 2025 AFL season. For some, it seems as though taking shots at the club is a daily pastime.

However, as we look this list up and down, it quickly becomes apparent that they have been operating without one of their key components for long periods over the past two years. And in the early going of 2025, it appears as though that pain may not be completely over.

The news that Jordan Ridley has suffered a “setback” with his hamstring in the preseason would have sunk the hopes of Bomber fans. When I watch this bloke play, his importance to the defensive structure cannot be overstated, and to lose him again in 2025, would be a disaster.

However, with time to recover before the season kicks off, and the strong possibility of a return to full health for the first bounce, Ridley can still be the player to turn things round for the Bombers, can’t he?

Well, can’t he?!?!

In this series, I will be taking a look at some of the big names in the game that, for one reason or another, need to lift this season.

For some, it is their own form, for others, it is coming back from injury. And for others, still, it is because their club desperately needs them to be at their best when to contend this season.

Ridley managed just nine games in 2025, suffering injuries that both ruined his start of the year, and ended his season prematurely. It was the second-straight season that saw the young star enter the off-season way too soon, and prevented this Essendon defence from operating at its optimum.

He has played in just nine of the Bombers’ last 28 games.

Can a fit and firing Jordan Ridley make the difference to the Bombers in 2025?

Let’s explore a little more.

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