Jordan Ridley Traded to Geelong, Jack Bowes to Essendon

AFL: Jordan Ridley Traded to Geelong as Jack Bowes Joins Essendon

Wed 7 Oct 2026, 2:20pm AEDT - The Sporting Base

Geelong has landed Essendon defender Jordan Ridley in a player swap that sends Jack Bowes to the Bombers, with four draft picks also changing hands. The deal was agreed on Wednesday 7 October, less than a week after Bowes asked to be traded to Essendon.

Geelong receives Ridley, pick 60 and a 2028 fourth-round pick, while Essendon gets Bowes, Geelong’s 2027 first-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick, AFL.com.au reported. AFL.com.au’s Cal Twomey described it as a “done deal”.

The trade in full

Geelong gets: Jordan Ridley, pick 60, 2028 fourth-round pick
Essendon gets: Jack Bowes, Geelong’s 2027 first-round pick, 2028 second-round pick

What Geelong gets in Ridley

Ridley, 27, won the Crichton Medal as Essendon’s best and fairest in 2020, the same year he made the All-Australian squad. Injuries have hurt him since, and he has played just 26 games across the past three seasons, according to AFL.com.au.

Zero Hanger reported that the 195cm defender was contracted at Essendon until the end of 2029 and wanted a fresh start to get his best football back.

The Bombers had knocked back Geelong’s first offer of a future first-round pick. “Jordan is contracted for another three years and clearly one of our most highly talented players,” Essendon list manager Matt Rosa said earlier in the trade period, Zero Hanger reported.

Bowes gets his move

Bowes was taken at pick 10 in the 2016 draft by Gold Coast and joined Geelong at the end of 2022. He played 69 games for the Cats, including the 2025 Grand Final, but only nine this season. He requested a trade to Essendon last week, and the move makes the Bombers his third club.

Essendon has been busy this trade period after trading Zach Merrett to Hawthorn. For Geelong, Zero Hanger reported the Cats can now turn their attention to St Kilda ruck Rowan Marshall.

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