Matthew Lloyd refuses to let Essendon use injuries as an excuse after 'sloppy' loss to Richmond

For only the third time in the 21st century, Essendon will finish a round of footy on the bottom of the ladder following a horror loss to Richmond on Friday night.

Everything went wrong for the Bombers, who lost five players to injury across the evening as the Tigers walked away with a scrappy 10.14. (74) to 7.14. (56) win.

The focus will now turn sharply on the club and coach Brad Scott, given Richmond came into the game with 26 available players on their list and only had one victory all year.

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"It's probably hard to separate the performance from the circumstances," Scott told reporters after the loss.

"But in terms of the game, we were on the hop the whole time, given that right from the start, we had to shuffle the deck chairs a fair bit."

The injuries certainly were a disaster, with Sam Durham (concussion), Andrew McGrath (broken jaw), Matt Guelfi (hamstring), Archie May (ribs) and Jye Caldwell (ankle) all going down in the 18-point defeat the MCG.

It pulls Essendon back into the injury vortex that destroyed their 2025 campaign, with 19 players now on their injury list - the same number as Richmond.

Despite that, the Dons went in favourites against a depleted side and have emerged from it last on the ladder for the first time since 2016.

"It's obviously extremely disappointing not to get it done, but there are always things that you think, OK there's positives, but it's hard to talk about positives at the moment for us," Scott said.

"We're in a situation that we don't want to be in, and we've got to keep fighting.

"I know at the end of the day, no one cares, but given the circumstances, the players fought to the end and gave themselves a chance to win and fell just short."

Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd isn't buying the injury excuse however, saying the Dons had opportunities to win the game, but were outplayed by a fellow rebuilding side.

"Richmond were the better side," he told 3AW.

"They were two goals up at half time. They just held their lead all day and they are ahead of the Bombers a fair way with the talent that they've got.

"The Bombers are where they are. 18th on the ladder. That's probably fitting for where they stand and the type of footy they are playing.

"It's disappointing. Forget the injuries they've got.

"I'll be interested to hear the thoughts of Bombers fans. Are you giving any excuse for the injuries or are you saying 'this isn't good enough'?

"I don't think they can use injuries as an excuse. They had their chances and were just not good enough. Very sloppy by foot.

"Richmond gave them a chance, but they just were not good enough to score. It's going to be interesting to see how this week plays out at Tullamarine."

Essendon was expected to either go in favourites or have a strong chance to win three straight games, given they took on the other bottom four sides in Richmond, West Coast and then Carlton. They've now lost the first of that trio, however.

Geelong champion Jimmy Bartel doesn't expect the club to make a snap decision on Scott until they at the very least see how the next fortnight plays out.

"They'll see how these three weeks play out and probably make a decision based on how it plays out," Bartel said.

Scott took over as Essendon coach in 2023, following the sacking of Ben Rutten. He currently has a contract in place for the 2027 season.