When Matthew Knights was appointed Essendon coach he said the club would focus on a youth policy and immediately went about implementing that plan.

True to his word, Essendon has drafted a number of baby bombers and now boasts one of the youngest lists in the AFL.

The four newest members of the squad - taken in the December 2007 pre-season and rookie drafts - are all now at Windy Hill and Knights is confident the club has brought in a good batch of players all with AFL potential. 

""John Williams (pick 5 in the pre-season draft) joined the squad on the 7th January but, since he recently had a shoulder reconstruction, he will work with Darcy Daniher (taken with pick 39 in the NAB national draft) who is also recovering from a shoulder injury sustained in training,"" Knights said.

""They both should be right by about Round 1-2 which will provide a fresh injection of talent into our squad. They will be able to work through their injury and rehabilitation together which will be good for two first year players.

""John came in and out of footy for a few years but he has significant aerial strength and a great leap for his size. He just needs to focus on game learning.

""I am very pleased with how the pre-season draft went because we earmarked and got a ruckman in Tom Bellchambers (pick 8 in the pre-season draft). We had to choose between two players and we took Tom because he has a bigger body and we only have two traditional ruckman on our list.

""Tom has done some training sessions previously with us in Melbourne and joined us for sand dune running during the Tasmania camp, which is where he is from. He is behind the group in fitness so we know what we are working with. He started full training with us on the 7th January and will take part in an induction program like all our draftees do.

""Rhys Magin (rookie selection) has good talent and great side-step and vision.

""The physical side of things will be important for him and we need to get his body right for AFL football. He will start full training with us on the 7th January and will take part in an induction program like all our draftees do

""Jarrod Atkinson (rookie selection) has been training with the squad for most of pre-season so he is fine and well up to speed. He is a great story of determination and was pleasure to coach at Bendigo where he played some good footy and dedicated himself well.

""Even though he was our last pick for the rookie list, now he has been selected he has as good as chance as any player we have picked up to play AFL footy.""