Essendon has picked up Northern Knights youngster Shane Harvey with its first selection at the 2001 National Draft. Shane, the younger brother of Kangaroos star Brent Harvey, was taken at selection number 28. The other big news for Essendon fans was confirmation that Paul Salmon has been lured out of retirement and will return to Windy Hill. Salmon was taken with the Bombers fifth selection and the 50th overall.Essendon also selected Joel Reynolds - the grandson of Bomber great Dick Reynolds. Essendon recruiting manager Adrian Dodoro said he was pleased with both the quality and type of players the club had been able to secure.

Shane Harvey (Northern Knights / Selection 18)
Dodoro: ""Shane played with the Vic. Metro side and is a livewire forward who we think will develop into a midfielder, much like his brother has at the Kangaroos. He is 175cm tall, has terrific pace and football smarts. He will develop further physically but with a good pre-season under his belt he could play senior football in 2002.""

Joel Reynolds (Geelong Falcons / 31)
Dodoro: ""He is 186cm tall and he is an investment in the future. He will take some time to develop but the raw ingredients are there. He is 17-years-old, has a great vertical leap, has both speed and endurance and a good football brain. He could play anywhere from the back pocket to the wing / ruck rover. He is similar to Adam Ramanauskas in a lot of ways.""

Simon O'Keefe ((Murray Bushrangers / 34)
Dodoro: ""He is a 199cm, 17-year-old who we hope will develop into a long-term ruckman. Physically he is very well developed and he is a real competitor. He is always looking to get involved in contests and we really liked that. We hope that he and David Hille can carry our ruck division into the future.""

Andrew Welch (Calder Cannons / 47)
Dodoro: ""Andrew was the Vic. Metro vice-captain and is a high quality young man and dedicated to making it at this level. He is very disciplined - a good listener who follows instructions. He is an on-baller who is very hard at the football and never gives an inch.""

The Bombers final two selections were Paul Salmon (50) and Daniel McAlister who was re-drafted at selection 66.