Lachlan McKinnon, 18, is a 203cm ruckman from the Coburg Tigers and comes to Essendon as the tallest player on its list.
""Lachlan is what you would call a late developer, he is fairly raw and we think he has an exciting future. He played towards the latter stages of the VFL last year and did really well. In fact all the references we got on him suggest that he has all the motor skills of a midfielder,"" Essendon recruiting manager Adrian Dodoro explained.
""With him we are looking to find another tall to complement the other guys on the list and we think we have now locked up our ruck division for a long time to come.""
Heath Hocking, 17, joins the Bombers from the Eastern Rangers as a medium midfielder.
""He has been playing catch up footy for two years, as a bottom-ager last year and a top-ager this year,"" Dodoro said.
""He is a prolific ball winner, he tested really well in the camp in terms of endurance and his speed was fairly good also. He is a left footer, he has a body that is physically ready to play league footy and he is hard at the contest and a terrific tackler.""
According to Dodoro, Matt Firman is a young man who got through the system and found himself at Essendon at 20 years of age. Originally from Geelong, he then he moved to Canberra playing at Belconnen.
""We went and watched him last year and recommended he come down and train with the Bendigo Bombers which he did. He impressed so much we thought he was a worthwhile addition on our rookie list. He has great endurance and a great leap. There isn’t much of him, he’s probably 179 cm, but he could be the real wild card of the rookie draft,"" Dodoro said.
Tim O’Keefe, 19, is a 193cm key position player/key defender who hails from Seymour via the Calder Cannons and the Bendigo Bombers.
""Tim has a great desire and work ethic and he has been groomed to be a body-on-body key position player. He is a very good competitor and we believe he has been a really good find for us,"" Dodoro explained.
