Aaron Francis Biography

Aaron Francis joins the Swans after being traded from Essendon.

The 25-year-old swingman heads to the Swans along with pick No.42, with Sydney's future fourth-round selection and pick 37 in this year's NAB AFL Draft heading in the opposite direction.

"This gives me a great opportunity to play my best football. Sydney is a club with an excellent culture and great leadership and it's probably the best environment for me to find my potential," he said.

"Hopefully I can provide some support in defence, and the coaching staff are really keen for me to realise my potential."

Essendon recruit Andrew Phillips' striking resemblance to new Bombers teammate Aaron Francis sparks a flurry of memes on social media.

Aaron Francis signs a three-year deal with Essendon to remain at the club until the end of 2022.

"I feel I have a tremendous support system around me, from the players to the administration, to assist me in achieving my goals in all aspects of my life," Francis said.

"I am loving my time at the club and I'm fully committed to working hard on my game, so I can increase my impact on the senior side."

Contract discussions are unlikely to begin for exciting Bomber Aaron Francis until further into the 2019 season as the emerging defender aims to lock down a spot in Essendon's line-up.

"He's a different person now. I don't think we saw the real Aaron Francis until halfway through last year," Essendon coach John Worsfold said.

"Everyone wanted to help him, but nobody knew what we could do to help him. We think he's gotten to that position where he's a good guy around the club and he's had a good pre-season."

Aaron Francis has pledged his football future to Essendon after a difficult season that started with him taking personal leave to deal with a mental health issue.

In a revealing interview, the round 22 NAB AFL Rising Star nominee also admitted he made the wrong call last year to unsuccessfully request a trade home to South Australia.

"Looking back, it's definitely been the best thing for me," Francis said about having taken personal leave from the club.

"I came back and spoke in front of the playing group about my struggles and where I've come from. Ever since that, it's been quite perfect.

"All the players, my teammates around me, have been very supportive, along with certain staff members."

Aaron Francis is set to play his first senior game for 2018 against Sydney at Etihad Stadium following a run of strong VFL form.

It has been a long wait for Francis, who has played just five games since joining Essendon as the No.6 pick at the 2015 NAB AFL Draft.

Essendon coach John Worsfold says Aaron Francis is now in a good head space and is on the cusp of an AFL call up.

"Our first aim was we just want to see a happy young man regardless of footy, and we've been seeing that," Worsfold said.

"He's also a talented young footballer and he does love playing footy, so that was the next part of it, get him back where he's playing good footy."

Aaron Francis will make his long-awaited return to football this weekend, playing for the Bombers' VFL team on Saturday.

Essendon is confident talented youngster Aaron Francis is getting closer to a return to the field after resuming training with the club in the past month.

"Nothing is set in stone, but his program is building to a point at the moment where he's involved in a good percentage of normal training, which is good," Bombers football manager Dan Richardson said.

"It's hard to put a definitive timeline on it, but hopefully if it all keeps progressing OK we're getting closer to introducing him back into some games."

A month after taking leave from Essendon to deal with a mental health issue, Aaron Francis returns to training at the club.

"It's fantastic. Obviously Aaron's been away from the club for a few weeks now, but to see him back at the club with a big smile on his face is great," teammate Michael Hurley said.

"I think they'll just take it step by step and Aaron will work through [his time at the club going forward] with the right people. Hopefully it's full-time, but for him if it's only part-time then so be it."

Aaron Francis has turned to part-time work and coaching local basketball as he spends time away from the club on personal leave.

"I caught up with Aaron yesterday (in Melbourne), he's actually in a really good space," Bombers teammate Dyson Heppell said.

"It's great to hear that he's pursuing a couple of other things outside of footy while he's away from the club and I think he's really enjoying that."

Essendon coach John Worsfold admits he is unsure if Aaron Francis will return to the club in 2018 after being granted personal time off to deal with his mental health.

"Aaron hasn't been really happy for a long time," Worsfold said.

"He hasn't been happy coming to training and he hasn't been able to work out why. Basically, we've tried to get him the support of experts to assist him to work through why that is.

"A lot of the times a player will try to do this while they're still playing and training and in the same environment, but it's at that point now where we need to break that because it's been ongoing.

"He's now working through whatever he has to do to be a happy young man."

Aaron Francis is granted personal leave from Essendon for an extended period to deal with a mental health issue.

"Aaron is a wonderful young man and his decision to speak up and ask for help is extremely courageous," Essendon general manager of football Dan Richardson said.

"The club will support Aaron in any way we can, and we will give him as much time as he needs to get better.

"He has an extremely strong network of support and we look forward to seeing him return to the club when he feels ready."

Essendon is confident it can get the best out of top draft pick Aaron Francis despite the defender failing in his bid to be traded back to South Australia.

"I said, '[We're] rapt to still have you here, we're pumped and want to help you be the best player you can be' and he was really excited," Essendon coach John Worsfold said.

"Maybe at the start of trade period he felt moving back to SA was going to be best for his footy.

"I said to him we understand all of that, we were supportive of it, we'd spoken to him leading into it that if it happens it happens, and if not we'll see how you go, and he was more than comfortable and excited with coming back."

Essendon re-signs Aaron Francis to a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the club until the end of 2019.

"Aaron is an exciting young player who, despite some injury setbacks, has shown his versatility to be able to play both forward and back," Essendon football manager Rob Kerr said.

"He is a committed young footballer who is very hungry to learn and develop – he's a fierce competitor and is regarded as an important part of our club's future."

Aaron Francis makes his AFL debut for Essendon at Docklands Stadium with 16 disposals (9 kicks and 7 handballs), 7 marks and 2 tackles in a 37-point loss to Brisbane.

Essendon can breathe a sigh of relief after top-10 draft pick Aaron Francis was cleared of a leg injury.

"He presented like he had a tear in his rectus femoris (quad)," Essendon’s head physiotherapist Peter Blanch said.

"Scans this morning showed that not to be the case, so it looked like it was just an irritation of the cork that he copped during training last week."

Aaron Francis has suffered another setback in his bid for a senior debut with Essendon.

Francis hurt his quad in the first 15 minutes of the Bombers' 28-point VFL loss to Sandringham.

Francis tested his leg in an attempt to return but with the club unsure if he had suffered a strain or a corkie, they took a conservative approach and sat Francis out for the rest of the match.

The Bombers will know more after it settles down, with Francis likely to have his quad scanned.

Bombers coach John Worsfold says Aaron Francis is not ready to make his AFL debut despite solid form in the VFL.

"[He's] not ready for AFL yet. I think that would be the wrong thing for him and not the best thing for the team at the moment," Worsfold said.

"Right at this stage I'd say he needs to play a couple of really good games, so plug that into where he's at at the moment, [a debut] is at least three weeks away I would guess."

Aaron Francis will be sidelined for up to five weeks with a calf injury.

Francis was sent for scans after experiencing tightness through his calf following training on Tuesday.

The scans revealed a minor tear in his calf and Essendon high performance manager Justin Crow said it was a disappointing setback.

"The sad reality for Aaron is that he'll miss five matches," Crow said.

"We'll make sure that we focus in with his development coach and the rehab team in making sure that he can get the most out of that time and keep improving."

Essendon draftee Aaron Francis will wear the No.10 jumper, worn by goalkicking great John Coleman in his short but brilliant career for the Bombers between 1949-54.

Essendon select Aaron Francis with pick No.6 in the 2015 NAB AFL Draft.

"He's probably not your classical key position player and he's going to be more of your third tall back/third tall forward," AFL Academy coach Brenton Sanderson said.

"He's an incredible talent and a real natural. I see him playing more midfield, but when you look at his height and size, he might end up playing key position."