Essendon Football Club has always been big on the development of its players and staff as people - not just as footballers and administrators. This development has seen in excess of 50 players and staff put through the Victorian Police Leadership Course at Airlie Police College in the past fhree years. And the Bombers' latest batch of leaders graduated yesterday. Marc Bullen, Damien Peverill, Shane Harvey, Jordan Bannister, Sam Hunt, Ken Hall, Andrew Welsh, Ben Haynes were joined by staff members Lucy Mariani and Sherri Croughan at last night's Graduation Dinner.

The guest speaker at last night's dinner was former Melbourne and North Melbourne player and St Kilda coach Stan Alves. Alves kept to the theme of the Graduation and spoke about the different qualities that make a good leader and how anyone and everyone has the capabilities to be a leader - they just need to believe in their own abilities. He used examples from his own life to highlight how self-belief and determination are important qualities in being a leader and succeeding in life.