Essendon has reinstated Martin Gleeson and Dylan Clarke on its list via the 2020 AFL rookie draft.

Gleeson and Clarke were re-drafted via picks Nos. 6 and 21 respectively on Thursday, with the Bombers passing on their third and final selection at No.34.

The pair were delisted in November but informed they rejoin the club as rookies.

That means the 100-game milestone remains in sight for Gleeson, who will enter his eighth season at the Bombers on 91 games.

The 26-year-old rebounding defender put injury troubles behind him to feature in 13 of a possible 17 games in 2020.

Clarke, 22, has played 20 senior games since being drafted to Essendon with pick No.63 in the 2016 national draft.

The hard-running midfielder struggled to break into the Bombers' line-up for the first half of the 2020 season, but earned his way back to feature in the last eight games.

General manager of list and recruiting Adrian Dodoro thanked Gleeson and Clarke for their selfless decisions to go through to the rookie draft.

"We were able to re-draft Marty Gleeson and Dylan Clarke via the AFL rookie draft, and this move allowed us to take two extra national draft selections by moving the pair on to the rookie list," Dodoro said.

"This is a really selfless act by both Marty and Dylan and showcases their team-first mentality. They are terrific young men who have put the club first in this situation and it is important we acknowledge this."

The rookie draft was held the day after the 2020 NAB AFL Draft, which saw Essendon secure dynamic midfielder Archie Perkins and talented talls Nik Cox, Zach Reid, Josh Eyre and Cody Brand.

See all of the club's off-season list changes below.

 
This news is brought to you by Orchard HRO, the club's official recruitment and list management partner.