Kyle Langford Biography

Kyle Langford could miss the first half of the season after suffering a hamstring strain when leading for a mark in the first quarter of Essendon's 66-point loss to Geelong.

Kyle Langford signs a new two-year deal with Essendon to remain at the club until the end of 2022.

"I feel like I'm really starting to develop some continuity in my game, so I was pretty clear that staying with the Bombers was going to be the best thing for my football as I'm hungry to keep growing as a player," he said.

"We have a really hungry young group of players and I can't wait to get back to the club with the boys and commit to a pre-season of hard work, intensity and driving high standards to take this group forward to where we want to go."

Since the AFL imposed its suspension of the 2020 AFL season (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Jacob Townsend is among five Bombers, alongside Jake Stringer, Shaun McKernan, Jayden Laverde and Kyle Langford, to have started a work placement with Border Express, the delivery and shipping company which is a corporate partner of the club.

The players have generally been at Border Express' headquarters for night shifts beginning at 5pm and finishing at 10.30pm, gaining an insight into work away from the football field.

"For the first week after the games stopped, I was driving myself insane," Townsend said.

"They were keen to help as soon as they heard we were keen to do something with our time and to see what the real world's like as well.

"We train and play footy every day nearly so it's nice to be able to put on another hat and see what other guys do in their lives."

Kyle Langford addresses his teammates to explain his thinking after his bizarre brain fade during Saturday's loss to St Kilda.

The 22-year-old, along with teammate Matt Guelfi, ran past the ball near the sidelines when a free kick was paid to St Kilda.

Instead of stopping and returning to see out the play, Langford ran to the interchange bench and allowed the Saints to stream forward unopposed.

"Kyle's addressed it with the playing group around what his mindset was at the time and why he made a mistake. [It was] a simple mistake," Bombers coach John Worsfold said.

Kyle Langford signs a new two-year deal with Essendon to remain at the club until the end of 2020.

The 21-year-old has averaged 19 disposals in his 11 games in 2018 and has played 42 games since arriving at the club as a first-round pick in 2014.

"I was always hoping to remain a Bomber – I was just trying to play the best footy I could play, prove myself as a player both on and off the field, and I knew the rest would take care of itself," he said.

Kyle Langford is enjoying his best stretch of performances at AFL level in his fourth season as a Bomber in 2018, and in the past four weeks has averaged 21 disposals playing through the midfield.

Langford said he had to make a difficult decision after a discussion with Bombers coach John Worsfold at the end of the 2017 season.

"He sat me down and said 'We're looking for an inside midfielder and we think you can fit that role'," Langford said.

"He gave me the challenge of either playing AFL in the forward line or going back to the VFL and playing in the midfield. If the senior coach sees you playing in a position he wants me to play in the AFL then you grab onto it.

"It was a tough year or 18 months in the VFL playing good footy and not getting a game, but all the hard work I've done over the past couple of years is finally coming out."

Kyle Langford will take on Jobe Watson's No.4 jumper in 2018.

"I'm pretty humbled to be offered the opportunity to wear the guernsey by Woosha and Jobe," Langford said.

"Leon Baker, Gavin Wanganeen and obviously Jobe are famous and successful players for the club. To have been able to play and train alongside Jobe, and then to be able to wear the jumper after him, it's a massive honour.

"Jobe said 'Do it for yourself, don't do it for anyone else, and you've worked hard and earned the honour of wearing it'."

Kyle Langford is using Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe as his inspiration for what he hopes will be a breakout 2017 season.

"I got some information off 'Harves' (assistant coach Mark Harvey) and 'Crowls' (2016 top-up player Ryan Crowley) – how he (Fyfe) went from being a normal player to the elite player he is," Langford said.

"I've had a look at that and based my game and my lifestyle off that.

"I spoke with John (Worsfold) just before the season ended and he does see me as a midfielder – a tall mid roaming around the ground.

"Whether that's next year or in the years to come depends on how I train during the pre-season.

"Next year I think I'll (continue to) play that high half-forward and hopefully a little bit through the midfield."

Kyle Langford signs a two-year deal with Essendon that will keep him at the club until the end of 2018.

"Kyle is working extremely hard on improving his game, he's an unbelievable competitor and we're really pleased he wants to be a part of our football club," Essendon coach John Worsfold said.

"We've taken Kyle out of his comfort zone and played him in a variety of roles this season, he's embraced that challenge and we believe with his attitude, talent and drive he's going to play a big role in the future of this football team."

Kyle Langford admits he was nervous in his debut for the Bombers against St Kilda.

In his debut, with his family, friends and girlfriend watching from the stands, Langford had the chance to boot a goal with his first kick in AFL ranks.

Unfortunately he missed the relatively straightforward shot. Then, in the second term, he had another chance to register his first goal but missed once again.

"It was probably just first-game jitters," Langford said.

"I know I've got good skills (and) at the moment I'm working on my goalkicking a lot. I know it's there and it'll come in time.

"It's all about backing my routine. I guess with those two set shots I might have just gone away from my normal routine, so I need to go away, work on it and hopefully it improves."

Kyle Langford makes his AFL debut for Essendon at Docklands Stadium with 12 disposals (4 kicks and 8 handballs), 4 marks and 4 tackles in a 2-point win over St Kilda.

Essendon snares highly rated midfielder Jayden Laverde with its second pick in the 2014 NAB AFL Draft after the versatile player slipped down the first-round pecking order.

Essendon list manager Adrian Dodoro says the club is happy to have landed both Laverde as well as Kyle Langford in the draft with their 20th and 17th pick respectively.

"We were pleasantly surprised that Jayden was available," Dodoro said.

"We took a little bit of a punt. We probably went into the draft wanting Kyle Langford. We wanted to bank him because we have a very high opinion of the young man.

"We knew there was one pick between our pick 17 and 20 because Isaac Heeney was already at the Swans. So we took a gamble and this time it paid off.

"We got two boys at about 190cm that can play in a variety of positions and are really exciting players."