Slattery, 18, is a left footer from West Adelaide who has played most of his football on a wing or in the midfield. He played the final seven games of the season in the seniors. The Bombers are looking at developing him into a ruck rover in the coming seasons.
""The likeness with Gary O’Donnell is uncanny. When we looked at his tape we couldn’t believe it,"" Dodoro said. ""But most importantly we think he can be a good player for us. He has pace, endurance, is good overhead but the best thing is his football brain – he just understands the game of footy.""
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""Shaun Rehn coached him at West Adelaide last season and he says he reminds him a lot of a young Simon Goodwin. That is high praise from someone who should know. I expect him to play senior football at some stage next year. He is physically ready and that is a big advantage and he has the maturity to handle it.""
The man himself was still on cloud nine this morning and can’t wait to get to Windy Hill and get stuck into pre-season training.
""West Adelaide play in the red and black so I have always had a bit of a soft spot for Essendon even though I didn’t actually follow them,"" Slattery said. ""I didn’t know if I would get taken or when but when my name was read out it was the greatest feeling ever.""
Slattery usually spends Saturday morning’s coaching the 8B cricket team at his former school Ross Trevor College but his father was called into deputise last Saturday so he could listen to the draft.
""I was at home with mum and one of my brothers listening on the internet. The cricket team got flogged,"" Slattery said. But cricket was the last thing on his mind mid-morning. ""I couldn’t be going to a better club.""
