Essendon coach vows to pursue Toby Greene if he decides to leave GWS

Essendon’s pursuit of Toby Greene has become one of the AFL offseason’s biggest storylines, with new Bombers coach Mark McVeigh declaring the club will go “pretty aggressively” after the Greater Western Sydney captain if he decides to leave, even as Greene says he has not made up his mind and plans to meet Geelong officials.

McVeigh, officially unveiled as Essendon senior coach on Aug. 25 and signed through the end of 2029, made the club’s intentions plain in comments published by AFL.com.au. “If he does decide he wants to move, we will get in the ring pretty aggressively,” McVeigh said. He added that he expected to meet Greene while the veteran forward is in Melbourne this week. McVeigh previously coached Greene at GWS, giving Essendon a direct relationship as the Bombers begin reshaping their list under a new coach.

“I’d be silly after coaching him and now coming to the Bombers to not sit down and have a coffee with him to say, ‘where are you at, if you are thinking of moving, can we get in the ring?’,” McVeigh told AFL.com.au.

Greene, speaking on the Ausmerican Aces podcast in comments quoted by Zero Hanger and cited in AFL coverage, pushed back on the idea that his future is already settled. “I felt like a lot of people in Melbourne, or friends, maybe even some people at the club, feel like I’m definitely going, which is not true,” Greene said. “If I was definitely going, I’d say that now. I’d be up-front with the Giants.” He added: “I’ll meet with Geelong probably this weekend, I’d say.”

That uncertainty is what makes the interest from Essendon and Geelong so significant. Greene is not just another experienced player weighing a move. He is GWS’s captain, has played 282 games for the club and has been there since the Giants’ first AFL game in 2012. Few players are more closely tied to the identity of an expansion club than Greene is to GWS, which is why any possible departure has become a central issue of the AFL offseason.

AFL.com.au reported Greene is weighing his future partly for family reasons, including the prospect of finishing his career in Victoria. Essendon’s interest also fits the Bombers’ broader recruiting stance under McVeigh, who has said the club wants to add more senior players after a 2-21 season that ended with the wooden spoon. Greene’s deliberations come as GWS tries to rebound from a season in which it missed the finals for the first time since 2022, leaving one of the club’s defining figures at the center of a rapidly intensifying market.