The fallout from Essendon’s season from hell has already begun with the club confirming on Friday that high performance boss Sean Murphy will be leaving.

The club has suffered an injury crisis of monumental proportions this year, and the Bombers have taken action, deciding not to renew Murphy’s contract.

Murphy, who was at Hawthorn before joining the Bombers, has led Essendon’s high performance team since the start of 2020.

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But his job has become virtually untenable due to the dire state of Essendon’s injury list this season.

In a statement, the club said the two parties came to “a mutual agreement”.

But for numerous weeks Essendon coach Brad Scott has been talking about reviewing and getting to the bottom of why the Bombers continue to have so many players unavailable.

The process is now already underway to appoint Murphy’s successor with the club hoping to select someone soon.

But any hopes Essendon had of poaching fitness guru Darren Burgess from Adelaide won’t be happening, with Burgess reportedly telling the Crows he was staying put.

Essendon football boss Daniel McPherson thanked Murphy for his “professionalism” and said he had carried himself with “integrity” throughout a really challenging season.

“Our high performance and medical team is critical to the success of our football program, and we’re committed to undertaking all necessary work required to help us improve in this area,” McPherson said.

“This decision enables us to take a fresh approach and reshape the team as we prepare for a crucial off-season ahead of the 2026 AFL campaign.”

The Bombers had 11 first-choice players missing when they lost to premiership contenders GWS by 48 points on Thursday night.

Essendon equalled the most debutants in a season in the AFL era — 13 — when forward Liam McMahon kicked two goals against the Giants.

Sitting 14th with a 6-11 record, Scott has spoken about wanting Essendon to be “a no-excuse football club.”

“We’d like to have better availability, but we field 23 fit players every week and we give opportunity to guys who deserve it,” Scott said after the defeat to GWS.

“There’s challenges within that but what we can demand is effort, intent and the way that we compete and that largely tonight was very good against a very good opposition.”

Star Nic Martin could miss most of the 2026 season after rupturing his ACL against Richmond last Saturday.

There are also long-term concerns around the health of emerging but injury-prone defender Zach Reid (hamstring), and classy utility Nik Cox (concussion).

But it is the soft-tissue issues that are particularly alarming for the club.

Kyle Langford (quad x2, hamstring), Jye Caldwell (hamstring), Darcy Parish (calf x2), Mason Redman (calf, hamstring), Zach Reid (hamstring x2), Jordan Ridley (hamstring), Archie Perkins (quad), Jade Gresham (adductor), Matt Guelfi (hamstring), Saad El-Hawli (hamstring), Nik Cox (calf), and Tsatas (hamstring) make up a staggering list of soft-tissue injuries throughout the year.

7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary also revealed that there was some friction between Darcy Parish and the club over the management of Parish’s back injury during the pre-season.

Parish struggled with the back complaint throughout the pre-season and, after consultation with club staff, underwent an initial procedure.

But there was lingering pain following that and Parish decided to consult an independent third party, which “raised eyebrows”, according to Cleary.

After Essendon released a statement on Friday about Murphy tenure, Cleary also a noted a slight change to the position title of his replacement.

“Interesting last par - the new hire will have ‘medical’ added to their title,” Cleary noted.

“Craig Vozzo’s football department restructure underway at Bomberland.”

The club statement said: “A process is underway to identify a new Head of High Performance and Medical and that person will be in place as soon as possible.”

Murphy thanked Essendon but admitted it had been a “challenging season”.

“I also want to acknowledge the playing group, the coaches, the support staff, and the broader club for their support and friendships made over the journey and I wish the club all the best for the future,” he said.

“Lastly, I would like to thank my family for the ongoing love and support in what is an all-encompassing role, I look forward to what lies ahead.”

- With AAP