AFL 2025: Nate Caddy's long-term future front of mind for Essendon coach Brad Scott
Caddy has been in and out of the struggling Bombers over recent weeks as he navigates soreness.
The improving key forward has nearly doubled his career matches in his second season for a return of 20 goals.
Essendon coach Brad Scott said he would always look after Caddy's long-term sustainability but insisted the Bombers still had plenty to play for.
'He's had the lingering issue, we'll always put his best interests at heart and clearly for Nate that's long-term,' he said.
'I've said repeatedly that we're not giving up on this season, we've got a lot to get out of the balance of these games.
'We had Nate in, then we had him out, then back in. The reality is he's a week-to-week proposition in terms of how he recovers from training and games.
'We've got to make decisions based on how he's doing but also his continuity. He wasn't able to train last week and we didn't feel it was the right thing to play him.
'We will look after his long-term future but we're not prepared to say at this stage he's played his last game for the year.
'The decision we've got to make is: Is he able to perform and are there any medium to long-term ramifications pushing him out there when he's sore.'
The injury-plagued Bombers have lost 10 of their past 11 after being on the cusp of the top eight.
They have 11 players sidelined for the year and a further four racing to return by season's end.
On that list is forward Kyle Langford, who has endured a wretched soft-tissue run throughout the year.
But Scott said the goalkicker still had a part to play in this season and, in a best-case scenario, could even front up in the VFL this week.
'I expect Kyle Langford to do a fair bit of training today with ideally a view to play some VFL minutes this week,' he said.
'That would be the best-case scenario and 'Langers' has been fantastic in his rehab. He's had a really strong intention to return to play.
'We probably do have to fight this view that when we're out of finals calculations that a lot of people probably think what's the point in bringing these guys back.
'But we've got a lot to gain out of this year, we need some senior players around our younger players and 'Langers' is a part of our leadership group.
'If we can get him back into our team, we'd like to do that, clearly with a low to close to zero risk policy as possible.
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