The Long Walk brought together thousands of people from all backgrounds. This year's walk to the ground was one of the biggest in the event's history.
The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews joined Michael Long for The Long Walk.
The pre-game ceremony featured a Welcome to Country by the traditional owners of the land, the Wurundjeri people.
More than 85,000 fans were in attendance - the biggest crowd for an AFL/VFL match at the MCG on a Saturday night. Tiwi Islands Football leaders Kevin Baxter and Mary Dunn were among them. The pair spent the week at Essendon headquarters and were in the coaches box on Saturday night.
Several former Essendon players were in attendance including Andrew Lovett (pictured above with Michael Hurley), Alwyn Davey, Nathan Lovett-Murray, Dale Kickett, Jarrod Atkinson and Courtenay Dempsey.
