Essendon Football Club has officially finalised its playing list for 2014 after taking three players at this morning’s NAB AFL Rookie Draft.

Fraser Thurlow, Patrick Ambrose and Johnny Rayner have become the latest trio of rookies to join the club, while Zach Merrett and Orazio Fantasia, who were selected at last week’s AFL National Draft, will join Paul Chapman, Shaun Edwards, Kurt Aylett as the club’s newest recruits.

List manager Adrian Dodoro said he believed the club’s newest acquisitions would bolster the Bombers’ line-up.

“Overall, we’re optimistic that we have a list now that can really become a force in the competition,” Dodoro said.

“We believe we have a nice blend and we’re very happy with the balance of our list. We obviously had restrictions from the AFL which meant we lost our first two selections at the National Draft and no doubt that made things difficult, but we changed our strategy going in to the trade period which in the end, I think worked well for us.

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“It was a great start to the trade period for the club to get Shaun Edwards and Kurt Aylett for selection 48 from GWS and obviously Paul Chapman came to the club under the free-agency rule which was particularly pleasing.”

Dodoro revealed that there was a need for the club to secure a mix of both running midfielders and versatile tall forwards at both the National and Rookie Drafts.

“At the Rookie Draft this morning, we wanted to make sure we complimented our ruck combination of Paddy Ryder and Tom Bellchambers – so we took a player by the name of Fraser Thurlow and completed our list by rewarding Patrick Ambrose who had a terrific year in the club’s VFL team this year,” Dodoro said.

“At the National Draft, Zach (Merrett) was a player that we ranked in the top 15 and we got him at pick 26 in exchange for Stewart Crameri. It was disappointing he left the club, but  in return we got an up and coming midfielder and a great ball user.

“Orazio is a long-term player for us. He has a huge engine, is quick and will add a lot of speed to the midfield. Further to that, Johnny is the club’s first alternative talent player under the Rookie B program and we’re thrilled to have found him. He is an elite athlete and will provide outstanding run for us.

“We are excited by our new prospects and they all provide a vast array of ability so we think we’ve had a successful draft period this off-season.”

Lauchlan Dalgleish was also recently elevated to the club’s senior list after making his debut against North Melbourne this year.