Roberts was drafted by Essendon with pick 54 in the 2023 national draft from Talent League side Sandringham Dragons. [1] Growing up he supported Carlton [2] and played junior football for local club Hampton Rovers in the South Metro Junior Football League. [3] He also played school football for Haileybury College under AFL Hall of Famer and Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd. [4]
Roberts made his AFL debut for Essendon in round 21 of his first season, against Fremantle at Melbourne Cricket Ground. [5] Roberts played four senior games in his first season, along with 14 VFL matches prior to his AFL debut. [6] Roberts rounded out his debut season by signing a contract extension, which saw an extra year added to his standard two year draftee contract, tying him to the club until the end of 2026. [7]
Ahead of the 2025 season, Roberts' second in the AFL, Roberts was chosen to take on retired Essendon champion Dyson Heppell's former guernsey number 21, moving up from the 38 he wore in his debut season. [8] 2025 turned out to be Roberts' breakout season, with a highlight coming in round 5, when Roberts had 28 disposals in a 39-point victory over Melbourne, earning a Rising Star nomination for his performance. [9] Roberts finished the season as fourth favourite for the Rising Star award, and was rewarded with a further contract extension until the end of 2028, despite already being contracted for 2026. [10]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
