Essendon forward Peter Wright firms as a focus point for the Bombers in 2025 as the club looks to break back into the finals frame.
After a Crichton Medal-winning campaign that netted him 53 goals from 22 games in 2022, the 203cm target has managed 38 goals from his 24 games since, struggling to rekindle the vein of form that placed him as Essendon's spearhead.
A shoulder injury delayed his start to 2023 but form has since been a cause for concern, with Wright even dropped to the VFL late into last season to play just one senior game after Round 18.
His start to last year was promising, booting two goals in each of his first four games, only to follow that purple patch with three goalless appearances in his next five.
A factor in that form dip was Essendon's increased dependency on Wright to support in the ruck compared to his opening games, with coach Brad Scott forced to experiment with his mix of key position players as first-string tall Sam Draper was sidelined.
Once Draper returned from injury in Round 15, Wright was able to place more focus on his forward craft, immediately netting three consecutive games of two-goal returns.
By that point of the season, rookie forward Nate Caddy was a permanent fixture in Scott's forward line, with Wright again needing to accommodate for change and still perform at the level fans have come to expect since his best and fairest season.
Soon came a wet mid-July night at the MCG where Wright failed to register a mark and amassed his fourth goalless game for the year, playing less than half the match as he was subbed out and dropped the following week alongside fellow veterans Nick Hind and Dyson Heppell.
A three-game spell in the VFL ensued, with Wright booting eight goals in that run while finding more of the ball as a ruck-forward asset at the state league level.
That would bring an end to Wright's season though, adding to a frustrating prior 18 months that saw the former Suns tall fail to fire like he did in 2023.
Over that same two-season period, partner-in-crime Kyle Langford kicked 94 goals to take Wright's spot as the No.1 target in Scott's attack, with the Bombers struggling to find the needed support around their former first-round pick to have the ability to contend for a top eight spot.
The club has since lost Jake Stringer - who was the only other Essendon forward besides Langford to kick more than 19 goals last year - to open another hole in the front half in their search for the desired forward cohesion.
For the Bombers to be in the conversation for a finals chance in 2025, Wright will need to strike a consistent run of form across the year, with the Bombers' selectors needing to play their part in allowing him to have consistency in the role he's playing - moving away from Wright as a part-time ruck option.
Scott and his team won't be patient however, with a poor start to the new season for Wright opening the door for the Bombers to look elsewhere - namely in the form of Harrison Jones.
The athletic forward finds himself in a similar position to Wright in that he's still looking to find the form that had fans excited in the early stages of his career in the red and black.
Jones could only kick 18 goals from 21 games for Essendon in 2024, with the 23-year-old quickly losing his spot in the selection pecking order to Caddy as he was soon utilised further up the field.
Essendon will likely start their coming season - which gets underway with a match against Gold Coast in Opening Round - with Caddy partnering Langford in the forward line and the other tall forward role going to one of Wright or Jones.
The Bombers' first five games of the season come against fellow finals aspirants, with games against the Hawks, Crows, Power and Demons - the latter coming after a bye week - to follow the Suns meeting.
By the end of that run, Scott will hope to have a good understanding of what his forward line can deliver in 2025, as Wright enters a make-or-break juncture in his career - and not for the first time.
