Essendon premiership player, Adam Ramanauskas, has capped off a remarkable 2007 by signing a new one-year contract with the club.
Essendon coach, Matthew Knights, first announced at the 2007 Crichton Medal count that the 116 game veteran would be elevated off the rookie list, along with Heath Hocking, and is happy a new contract has now been signed.
""Rama has earned his position. He produced some pretty decent performances off a limited pre-season and, whilst managing his schedule sensibly, we are going to get some more load through him in the coming months and he will be a very capable player next year,"" Knights said.
""He is only 26-years old and in the demographic of being in the prime of his career. His resilience and courage are fine attributes and an example for all our players.""
Ramanauskas, who made his AFL debut in 1999 and played in the 2000 premiership, was given special permission to be on the rookie list following his battle with cancer.
He made his emotional comeback to Essendon in Round 14 in which he kicked his 56th career goal and played five games for the season.
Ramanauskas was pick No.12 in the 1998 draft and was named Essendon's most courageous player at this year's best and fairest night.
Knights also announced that Dean Dick and Danny Chartres would be kept on the Essendon rookie list in 2008.
Dick, who turns 19 in December, is the son of former Bomber, Willy Dick, and is 190cm and 94 kg. He impressed with the Bendigo Bombers in 2007 but was hampered by injury.
He played much of 2007 for
Both players were recruited from Western Australia.
""There is still plenty of hard work to be done and development needed but these two men have shown us enough for us to want to persist with them,"" Knights said.
