Essendon Coach John Worsfold says Adam Saad will add to the Bombers line breaking ability out of defence.
The Dons secured Saad from Gold Coast in exchange for a future second round pick.
The former Sun led the competition for running bounces in 2017. His 93 running bounces was 29 more than any other player.
Conor McKenna led the way for the Bombers in that category (45) and the pair could form a dynamic combination across half back in 2018.
“Their first job is to defend the ground really hard but in the way we move the ball and try to take it off the line really quickly – and break some lines – Adam just does that naturally,” Worsfold said.
“When the opposition do get the ball inside their forward line and we win it, we want to be able to get it down the other end and score.
“So guys who use the ball well, can break lines and get that metres gained for us, and make sure we get out of that dangerous area of the ground as quickly as possible will add a lot of value.”
The signing of Saad adds to the Dons small defensive stocks that include Martin Gleeson, Mark Baguley, Jordan Ridley, Matt Dea, Mason Redman, Ben McNiece and Rising Star Andrew McGrath.
“We’ve got some quality small defenders on the list already, Adam is a little bit different to some of the others,” Worsfold said.
“We’ve got some really good depth and balance now to have a look at the way we select the side.
“Andy McGrath basically played in that backline for the majority of the year but we saw him in the midfield and on a wing late in the season.
“We expect that we’ll keep his development going in that area but he may still spend some time in the back half.
“We saw really good development in Gleeson this year, he played a really strong final for us under a lot of pressure.
“Conor McKenna has got a huge amount of upside still.
“We’ve now got really good balance and depth.”
Saad, 23, joins the Bombers after playing 48 games with the Suns, including all 22 in 2017.
“He’s a rebounding small defender who can also defend a man tightly and beat his opponent one on one – that’s really why we’ve got him here, we know what his attributes are,” Worsfold said.
“We also believe he is a great fit for what we’re building as a Club, both in his age and his character and values as well.”
