From limited opportunities, Jordan Ridley still highlighted his importance to Essendon’s back six in 2024.

The former Crichton Medallist has endured a challenging 18 months on the injury front, with multiple quad and hip flexor setbacks seeing Ridley feature in just nine of the Bombers’ last 28 possible games.

In those nine appearances, Ridley continued to produce consistent play, most apparent in his return game for Dreamtime at the ‘G this year when he cut up the Tigers with 31 disposals and a goal from half back, claiming the Yiooken Award as best-on-ground.

The 25-year-old is eager to stay on the park for longer next season, looking to build on-field chemistry with the rest of the Dons’ defensive unit.

“It’s been a pretty tough year personally, really,” Ridley said.

“Pretty frustrating and disappointing for a lot of it but being out there (on the park) I obviously found it enjoyable for the most part.

“I really enjoy being there with that group particularly in the back six but a lot of injury issues made it pretty annoying not to be out there with them more often.’

The lack of opportunities to slot into an evolving defensive group including new recruit Ben McKay has been a point of frustration for Ridley, who’s enticed by the prospects of what the Bombers can form around their key backs.

Ridley and fellow injury-hit defender Zach Reid are looking to overcome their soft tissue issues this off-season, with the pair to head overseas and consult external experts for a different lens.

“(This off-season), Zach and I will jet off to Qatar to a sports medicine centre that provides really high-end screening and strength-based work,” Ridley said.

“Both of us have had an average run over the last 18 months and we just want to give ourselves the best opportunity to play out full seasons. Getting guys like Zach up and running and the more that all of us get to train and play together, it’ll help us understand the way we want to play and we can form some strong on-field connections.

“Ben McKay’s obviously super talented and in the past we’ve been crying out to have someone like him join the defence, so I’m keen to hopefully be out there with those guys for longer periods next year.”

In the wake of a season where the Dons looked in contention for long stretches, missing the finals has been a bitter pill to swallow for the wider group, but they’re remaining upbeat around the steps taken in the right direction in 2024.

Heading into an eighth full off-season, the goals are pretty clear for Ridley.

“It was good to play some spurts of solid footy this year, but I still have some ways to go as far as capturing my best again,” Ridley said.

“It’s more so just about the continuity piece and getting back out there for longer. From an individual standpoint, that’s all I’m thinking about at the moment.

“There’s always a level of disappointment around the group when you miss out on finals and especially from the position we were in, but I’d say we’re reasonably upbeat and there’s a lot of optimism about the areas we can improve, which we’ll make clear in the coming months.”