STANTON, Brent

Brent Stanton was selected at spot 13 in the 2003 AFL Draft from the Northern Knights. Because Essendon had suffered a number of injuries, he was brought straight into the side in Round 1, 2004, without playing any Reserves games. Unfortunately, the Bombers suffered a 96 point defeat by Port Adelaide. He won a Rising Star nomination in the Round 20 game against Collingwood and the Club's Best First Year Player award.

He changed his number from 34 to recently-retired Joe Misiti's 24 and showed such improvement that he finished third in the 2004 Crichton Medal. He worked hard on his fitness and became a renowned hard runner with great endurance. He had a fine season in 2005 despite suffering from a hernia for most of the season and which got worse as the season went on. He was one of only three players to play every game in a disappointing 2006 season.

By 2007 he was established as a key member of the team and in 2008 he was offered James Hird's number 5 guernsey, which he accepted after some hesitation. He once again played every game and was firmly established as one of the League's elite midfielder.

He missed the 2016 due to suspension because of the Supplements saga but returned in 2017. He only managed seven games and announced that he would retire at the end of the season.

Stanton's extraordinary consistency is reflected in his Best and Fairest results: in his 13 seasons, he finished in the Crichton Medal top ten nine times, including a second and three third placings.

After his retirement, he played for his old club, Banyule, and took on a role as development coach at Carlton in 2018 to 2019. He was elevated to assistant coach but was sacked at the end of the 2021 season after an extensive review of their football department.

He returned to Essendon as coach of the VFL team for the 2022 season and in October was elevated to a full-time position as a development coach for the senior team.