The Essendon VFL team are pleased to announce the finalised playing list for season 2015 with the singings of Ben McNiece and Jacob Thompson ahead of round one this weekend.

The Bombers are set to begin their 2015 campaign on Sunday at Trevor Barker Oval against the Sandringham Zebras on the back of a successful pre-season which saw successive victories over Richmond and Geelong.

VFL operations manager Matt Little was delighted to complete the playing list after a busy off-season, emphasising that McNiece and Thompson are expected to do more than just make up the numbers this season.

Small-defender, Ben McNiece, is set to embark upon his debut VFL season after impressing in the local leagues with his damaging ball-use and lightening pace.

 “Ben McNiece is a small defender with excellent leg speed and fantastic skills,” Little said.

“We recruited Ben from Northcote Park where he has been one of the premier small defenders of the Northern Football League for a number of years.” 

“Ben had an outstanding pre-season and has really come on over the past 2 years.  Ben was unlucky to miss our list in 2013, but has come back this year after travelling for a year and really impressed the coaching staff this pre-season.”

Thompson is a familiar face for the VFL Bombers after spending several years on the list and is expected to make his return to the side after a lengthy injury layoff last season.

“Jacob has recovered well from an ACL injury in 2013 and had an excellent pre-season.  We would be looking for Jacob to play as a third tall forward as he marks the ball really well,” Little said.

“This will be Jacob’s 6^th season with Essendon’s VFL side and is the longest serving on our list.”

View the full Essendon VFL list here.