Nick Bryan

Nick Bryan (born 22 October 2001) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

AFL career Bryan was drafted by the Essendon Football Club with the 38th overall selection in the 2019 AFL draft. Having spent his first season developing in the reserves, he made his debut in round 7, 2021, against Carlton.

Bryan played only 19 games across his first five seasons in the AFL due to injury and developing in the VFL; however, he won Essendon's VFL best and fairest award in 2021, and he was named in the VFL team of the year in 2024. Bryan started the 2025 AFL season alongside Sam Draper as Essendon's first-choice ruck pairing. However, in round 5, Bryan suffered a ruptured ACL ruling him out for the season. Whilst rehabilitating from his injury, Bryan signed a two-year contract extension to remain at Essendon until the end of 2027.

Statistics Updated to the end of round 22, 2026.

34 !! 4 !! 4 !! 191 !! 142 !! 333 !! 67 !! 73 !! 657 !! 0.1 !! 0.1 !! 5.6 !! 4.2 !! 9.8 !! 2.0 !! 2.1 !! 19.3 !! 0