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What Essendon fans can expect from exciting forward duo Caddy and Kako in 2025
Lachlan Geleit • March 3rd, 2025 8:54 am
Essendon coach Brad Scott is excited about what young forward duo Nate Caddy and Isaac Kako can offer in 2025.
Caddy, who played 10 games in 2024 after being drafted wirh Pick 10 in the 2023 draft, has been settled inside 50 after the Dons considered moving the athletic beast up the ground early in the pre-season.
The 193cm 19-year-old has the ability to produce a freakish moment and Scott is excited about his improvement over the summer as he impacts more around goals while increasing his defensive output.
“He (Caddy) just shows such amazing attributes,” Scott said on SEN's Whateley last week.
“But the challenge like with most AFL footballers is to produce that on a consistent basis. That's harder for the players who can do pretty freakish things because doing freakish things on a consistent basis is quite difficult.
“We're just going to give him plenty of opportunity and play a game style that we think is going to suit him.
“He's improved quite a bit over the pre-season in terms of his ability to play a well-rounded game.
“Like a lot of young key forwards, they have to learn to defend at AFL level, and he's really learned to do that really well. So, we're looking forward to seeing what he can do.”
As for Kako, Scott expects the talented small forward to help improve Essendon’s ground-level presence inside 50 after he joined the club at Pick 13 in the 2024 draft.
“He’s certainly different to what we've had,” Scott said of the NGA poroduct.
“I think small forwards are a really important part of the modern game, and last year part of that efficiency challenge with us is that we didn't have the impact at ground level that we would have liked.
“Obviously, you want to mark the ball when you go forward, but that's not going to happen every time. If you can't mark the ball, you want a really good ground-level presence and Izak will definitely help us with that.
“He's got some terrific attributes, but we're really conscious that he' hasn't played a game of AFL footy yet.
“So, he's not the answer to all of our problems in that part of the ground, but he'll certainly help.”
Caddy (three) and Kako (four) combined for seven goals in Essendon's 21-point AAMI Community Series win over Geelong last Tuesday.
The Bombers kick off their 202 season with an Opening Round clash against Gold Coast at People First Stadium othis Saturday from 5:15pm AEDT.
