Essendon Join Port Adelaide Past 200 — and Richmond Lose Three Seasons in Seven Days
After Round 20 the medicare ladder has two clubs beyond 200 estimated games for the first time — Port Adelaide on 240 and Essendon on 200 — while Richmond had three seasons end in a single week and the competition's bill grew by roughly 150 games, to an estimated 2,296. Fifty seasons have now ended league-wide. Every figure is a modelled estimate, not an official club count.
After Round 20 the league has two clubs past 200 for the first time. Port Adelaide added seven for an estimated 240 player-games lost, and Essendon's heavy week carried them to exactly 200 — no other club had ever crossed that line. West Coast's 22-game week lifts the Eagles past Richmond into third on 181; the Tigers added 15 and still slipped a rung to 178. Fremantle remain the healthiest list in the league on roughly 42, so the gap from hardest-hit to healthiest is now 198 games. Across all 18 clubs the season's casualty bill reached an estimated 2,296 — the league added roughly 150 games in a single week, nearly three times the 57 it added the week before.
Port Adelaide's week was, by their season's standards, a quiet one — and the bill still grew. Joe Richards' finger (three to four weeks) and Kane Farrell's hip joined the list, seven more estimated games, while Jason Horne-Francis' suspension ended and Tom Cochrane came off the list altogether. The seven ended seasons at Alberton — Connor Rozee, Sam Powell-Pepper and Ollie Lord among them — are still the most anywhere, and at 240 the Power's toll sits 40 clear of the next club. That is what a season like this leaves behind: even the good weeks only slow the count.
Richmond had the week no club has had in 2026: three seasons ended in seven days. Jacob Hopper's ankle, Josh Smillie's quad and Kaleb Smith's quad were all ruled out for the year, making five ended seasons at Tigerland — and the Tigers still lost a ladder rung, because West Coast's 22-game week was bigger. Essendon's was too: Xavier Duursma's hamstring became their fifth ended season and pushed the Bombers to 200. Henry Smith's foot ended the second Brisbane season off an active list of just three, worth 22 games and a rung to seventh. Will Graham's shoulder at Gold Coast and Phoenix Gothard's at GWS were also upgraded to season-ending, and the Bulldogs' 14-game week — Adam Treloar's calf, four to six weeks, the headline — carried them up three rungs. Geelong added double figures for the second straight week, Max Holmes' ankle (eight to ten weeks) the biggest single hit — yet the Cats are still one of four clubs, with Adelaide, Hawthorn and Fremantle, who haven't lost a season to injury all year.
So the count after Round 20, modelled rather than counted: Port Adelaide 240 at the top, Fremantle 42 at the bottom, 50 seasons ended league-wide — and knees responsible for 22 of them, an estimated 522 games on their own, more than the next three injury types combined. How much slack any of it earns a club is yours to weigh.
That is what each club has lost to injury after Round 20, estimated — offered as context, never an excuse. How much slack you cut a side for its casualty list is yours to weigh.