Welcome to Essendon AFLW - Jess Verbrugge (Injury Replacement)

One slot left to fill now.

Jess Verbrugge has officially joined the Bombers AFLW List as a replacement player, providing a dynamic addition to an already solid list.

At just 21 years old, Verbrugge has already established herself as a standout leader and elite athlete. Captaining East Perth in the WAFLW, she has demonstrated not only strong on-field leadership, but a depth of character that is equally evident off the field.

Verbrugge’s honesty, humility, and unrelenting drive to improve have made her a respected figure in the WAFLW competition, and an exciting prospect at AFLW level.

A natural endurance athlete, Verbrugge has earned a reputation as a ‘running machine’ whose ability to produce repeat efforts across four quarters sets her apart.

In 2025, she took her tackling and contested work to new heights, showcasing a more physical edge to complement her athleticism and football craft. Whether she is playing inside the contest or working on the outside, her versatility is second to none.

AFLW List and Recruiting Manager, Josh Moore is excited to have Jess on-board for 2025 and is eager to see what she can produce both on and off field.

“We are very excited to add Jess to our AFLW list. Her work rate and ability to cover the ground is outstanding,” Moore said.

“She’s been working hard on her contest work, and it has been a feature of her game this season. Her high footy IQ and athleticism allows her to be a very versatile player.

“After meeting Jess a few times now, we feel like she will thrive in our program. She is a selfless leader who has genuine care for her teammates.

“We are thrilled to have a great person like Jess, and her family, join us at the Bombers.”

The Bomber faithful should be excited to see Verbrugge Don the Sash this year.

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172cm midfielder

More stats at:
https://www.wafl.com.au/player/jess-verbrugge

Peter Williams mentioned her last month:

Hailing originally from South Fremantle, Verbrugge has admittedly taken a little while to find that consistency that takes you from a good state league player to the next level. Having settled in at East Perth, Verbrugge has looked that top shelf talent with her athletic traits and elite endurance base. What she has shown so far in 2025 is that consistency she needed to find, putting up averages of 22.0 disposals, 4.8 marks and 4.5 tackles. Critically for the last two stats, her overhead marking and physicality around the ball were two big areas she was looking to improve. One to watch from a league where plenty get picked up as mature-agers.

He also interviewed her in January:

RETURNING to WAFL Women’s level after starring down south for Donnybrook, East Perth’s Jess Verbrugge is looking forward to her second year back at the top flight in Western Australia. The former South Fremantle junior who played four games for the Bulldogs back in 2022 and went through the Under 18s talent pathway, returned after two years off to run out for the second year Royals.

Verbrugge returned to the WAFL Women’s having won two Nola Marino Medals in the South West Football League, becoming the first ever player to achieve the feat. But the itch that needed scratching was back at state level and the then-19-year-old opted to join East Perth.

“I’m from down south played for Donnybrook down there and I think since playing juniors I’ve been doing the South West Talent Pathway with Jamie Douse,” Verbrugge said of her football beginnings. “From there I did some state programs, state 18s with Beau McDonald which is really good and East Perth I was lucky enough to get an invite from them to come along and since then I’ve been really enjoying playing at the WAFLW level.”

Turning 21 next week, Verbrugge has returned to the Royals where she hopes to build on her first season at the club. In 2024, the midfielder averaged 12.6 disposals, 2.5 marks and 3.8 tackles, finding her fair share of the ball around the contest as East Perth grabbed their first premiership points in women’s club history and avoided the wooden spoon.

Though Verbrugge throughly enjoyed the experience, she admitted towards the back of the year she needed a refresh, which is something she has targeted over the off-season.

“I think I fell out of love with it a bit at the end of last season, and this preseason I’ve really put back into just enjoying the game, enjoying the process and loving the game,” she said.

Verbrugge is not the first footballing talent to come from Donnybrook, with Fremantle’s Dana East following the same pathway. East also switched to the region-aligned Royals last season, having played for Swan Districts prior to East Perth having a team, and is the player Verbrugge looks up to from the top level.

“I’ve really enjoyed watching her pathway and to the level she’s got up at playing for Fremantle Dockers and I enjoy talking to her when I get to hang out with her,” Verbrugge said. “I love watching her keep growing.”

The Fremantle supporter is expecting to play a balance of inside and outside midfield in the 2025 WAFLW season, with her goal of improving her physicality around the ball, overhead marking and consistency on her to-do list.

Recording the top score in the yo-yo test at the recent WAFLW Preseason Testing event, Verbrugge showcased her gut-running which she regards as one of her strengths.

“For me, fitness and my speed are my strengths, and probably my favourite part of the game, and I think my team values or my leadership is another strength of mine that I enjoy,” she said.

The East Perth midfielder is keeping it simple when it comes to what she wants to achieve both individually and as a team collective.

“Individually I just want to be really consistent with my games,” Verbrugge said. “I feel like i was a bit up and down all over the shop last year, so consistency is a goal for myself. “And as a team, I would really love us just to push ourselves and go out there and enjoy it and play as a united front.”

This seems on profile to be a Radford replacement.

Wonder if we’ll go like for like with Gough too?

Also, given time between Radford injury and signing, she must have been very much on the Essendon radar.

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I’d venture there are fewer like-for-likes for Gough!

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