Countdown to Round 1, 2026. Day 34: Essendon Guernsey Number 34

Don TheStat
4 hours ago
2 min read

With 34 days to go until Essendon’s Round 1 clash with Hawthorn, Don The Stat continues its daily countdown through Essendon’s guernsey history.

Guernsey Number 34 has been worn by 29 Essendon players, spanning more than a century of club history and linking Premiership success with family legacy.

The first Bomber to wear the number was Greg Stockdale, who played three senior games between 1920 and 1921. The jumper then passed through a series of short stints before finding stability in the 1950s.

That stability arrived with Mal Pascoe, who wore Number 34 from 1953 to 1958, playing 94 senior games. He was followed by Brian Sampson, who wore the jumper from 1959 to 1966, playing 100 games and becoming a member of Essendon’s 1962 and 1965 Premiership sides while wearing Number 34.

Through the 1970s, Laurie Moloney added another extended run in the jumper, before the number became part of a unique father–son story.

Merv Neagle wore Guernsey Number 34 from 1977 to 1980, playing 53 games before switching to Number 1. Merv later became a member of Essendon’s 1984 Premiership side. His son, Jay Neagle, also began his Essendon career wearing Number 34, making it a rare generational link through the same guernsey, not once, but twice, when he too switched to Number 1.

In the modern era, Justin Blumfield wore Number 34 in 1996, before switching to Number 32, where he later became a member of Essendon’s 2000 Premiership side.