New Bomber Dylan Shiel leads a strong extended squad for Essendon’s season opener against Greater Western Sydney at Sydney Showground Stadium on Sunday.
Shiel has been named on the wing to take on his former team in his first home and away game in the red and black, and senior coach John Worsfold says the dynamic midfielder has slotted comfortably into the squad.
“Dyl’s been great since he walked in the door and (has) fit in seamlessly,” Worsfold said on Thursday.
“He’s excited, but as much as anything, us as a group are really excited to get out and play together and Dyl feels like he’s always been part of it.”
Young Bomber Jordan Ridley’s outstanding pre-season form has been justly rewarded, with the sweeping defender named to take on the Giants off the back of his terrific efforts against Carlton and Geelong in recent weeks.
Ridley gathered 23 and 18 disposals respectively in the two JLT Community Series clashes, impressing with his poise and class after showing great commitment throughout the pre-season.
“He came back and set some really high standards early in the pre-season and maintained that all the way through,” Worsfold said.
“He’s progressing really well as a young player at the club and has really earnt his spot in the team.”
Fellow youngster Brandon Zerk-Thatcher is among eight Dons listed on the extended bench, a promising sign for the key defender entering just his second season at The Hangar.
“(Zerk-Thatcher is) coming along really well, he’s a real fighter in the back half – he doesn’t like to concede anything to his forward.
“We were really pleased with his first season last year in the VFL and he’s had another very good pre-season, so he’s tracking along really well.”
Experienced recruit Zac Clarke joins the young backman on the bench as he looks to take the field for his first game as a Bomber for premiership points.
Clarke has 101 AFL games under his belt and Worsfold has been impressed by the former Docker’s efforts since arriving at the club.
“Zac comes over without having been on an AFL list for a little while, so we managed his re-entry into the full-time program, but he’s embraced everything.”
“His body’s holding up really well, which is the number-one thing, and he’s also very clear of his role here at the club.
“He’s pushing hard to be playing his best footy and looking to break into the team and that’s what we’ve been excited about.
“He played the one (pre-season) game against Carlton and we were pretty happy with the way he went in that, so it’s great to have him available.”
Zac Clarke has been named on the extended bench for Sunday's clash with Greater Western Sydney.
While star forward Joe Daniher won’t take his place in the side as he recovers from a calf strain, Worsfold is confident the team can continue to cover his loss well having displayed good depth in attack without the tall goalkicker last year.
Powerful forward Shaun McKernan played a key role in the club’s revival in 2018 with 16 goals from 10 games and Worsfold has full faith in his ability to have a significant impact on Sunday.
“We take a huge amount of confidence in the players we’re picking,” he said.
“Shaun McKernan’s had a great pre-season and really deserves his spot in the side.
“He would have been very stiff if he missed out for Joey, but that’s why he’s working as hard as he can so he’s ready to play his best footy for us.
“As much as we’re all disappointed for Joe, our focus is on Shaun and how well he’s prepared to come in and play that role.”
Worsfold expects an improved showing from the Bombers after the club’s two pre-season losses and is confident there has been enough time to tinker with minor issues that surfaced in the JLT series.
“Those games definitely were a real learning curve for us in some of the new things we were trying to get the players to understand and it highlighted which areas that we needed to go over again.
“We’ve had a good period of time from that Thursday night game to work on those areas and I really feel like the players are confident with what they’ve done in the last two weeks in prepping for the start of the season.”
The final team will be revealed at 5pm on Friday, with the first bounce set for 3:20pm on Sunday.
EXTENDED SQUAD
B – Adam Saad, Patrick Ambrose, Conor McKenna
HB – Mitch Brown, Michael Hurley, Jordan Ridley
C – David Zaharakis, David Myers, Dylan Shiel
HF – Dyson Heppell, Jake Stringer, Mark Baguley
F – Zach Merrett, Shaun McKernan, Orazio Fantasia
R – Tom Bellchambers, Kyle Langford, Andrew McGrath
I/C – Matt Guelfi, Devon Smith, Aaron Francis, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Darcy Parish, Zac Clarke, Jayden Laverde
