Saad El-Hawli (born 15 May 2001) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who currently plays for the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). He was drafted with pick 13 in the 2024 mid-season rookie draft.

Early career

El-Hawli joined the

Western Jets The Western Jets is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Victorian premier U19 competition, the Talent League, since its inception in 1992. The club have developmental squads in the U16, however much of the attention is towards it ...

for the 2019

NAB League The Talent League (also known as the Coates Hire, Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the National Australia Bank, NAB League and Transport Accident Commission, TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representa ...

season. He averaged 8.25 disposals and kicked 6 goals from a total of 12 games. Following the cancellation of many local football seasons in 2020 due to the impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria The COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria was part of the worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in the state of Victoria, also the first in Austra ...

, he joined Altona in the

Western Region Football League The Western Football Netball League (WFNL) is a semi-professional Australian rules football and netball league, based in the western suburbs of Melbourne. History The league was formed in 1931 as the Footscray District Football League (FDFL). ...

(WRFL) in 2021. He was the club's leading goalkicker for the 2021 season, kicking 26 goals, and also was part of the 2021 WRFL Team of the Year. El-Hawli also participated in the Bachar Houli Foundation. In January 2022, El-Hawli signed with the

Werribee Football Club The Werribee Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in the suburb of Werribee. The club was formed in 1964 and currently plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It is the western-most Melbourne-base ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL). He made his VFL debut in round 1 of the 2022 season against , and kicked his first goal in round 3 against . However, he was omitted from Werribee's side after round 5 and did not return until round 20 against . For the

2023 VFL season The 2023 VFL season was the 141st season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), a second-tier Australian rules football competition played in the states of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. The season commenced on 25 March and concluded ...

, El-Hawli moved to the

Northern Bullants The Northern Bullants are a semi-professional Australian rules football club that currently competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The club, which is based in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, plays its home games at Preston City Ov ...

. He impressed early in a practice match, catching the eye of . El-Hawli debuted for the Bullants in round 1 against , collecting 20 disposals, and kicked a career-high four goals against in round 7. In

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, El-Hawli averaged 25.8 disposals and six marks per match while playing for the Bullants. His final game for the club came in round 9 against , where he had 33 disposals and kicked two goals. In May 2024 it was reported by Melbourne radio station

1116 SEN 1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria, Australia. Owned and operated by Sports Entertainment Group, it broadcasts a sports radio format. It commenced broadcasting on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the station currently ...

that had shown interest in El-Hawli ahead of the 2024 AFL mid-season rookie draft.

AFL career

El-Hawli was drafted by Essendon with pick 13 of the 2024 mid-season draft. In his second game for Essendon's reserves team, he recorded 27 disposals and kicked four goals against , but suffered a

syndesmosis A syndesmosis (“fastened with a band”) is a type of fibrous joint in which two bones are united to each other by fibrous connective tissue. The gap between the bones may be narrow, with the bones joined by ligaments, or the gap may be wide a ...

injury that resulted in him missing most of the rest of the season and unable to make his AFL debut that year. El-Hawli made his AFL debut in round 3 of the 2025 season against at

Marvel Stadium Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

Personal life

El-Hawli is a devout

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, and was fasting for the holy month of

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

during the time of his AFL debut. His cousin is Bachar Houli, who is also a Muslim and a three-time AFL premiership player with . They share Lebanese heritage.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:El-Hawli, Saad Living people 2001 births Essendon Football Club players Werribee Football Club players Northern Bullants players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Australian Muslims 21st-century Australian sportsmen Australian people of Lebanese descent Western Jets players