ESSENDON will have three players from the Bendigo Football-Netball League on its VFL list this year following the additions of Jamieson Sheahan and Kalan Huntly.
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Strathfieldsaye’s Sheahan and Castlemaine’s Huntly join South Bendigo’s Kieran Strachan, who was on the Bombers’ VFL list last year.
“Both boys have officially signed, so it’s great to have them on board,” Essendon’s VFL operations manager Ash Brown said on Saturday.
“Kal has been a consistent player with Castlemaine for a few years now and Jamieson is coming off a good year with Strathfieldsaye.
“Both have made really good impacts on our program already and both are good guys.”
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Essendon will have a VFL list of 24 players.
Sheahan – a former Bendigo Pioneer – joins the Bombers’ VFL team having last year played in Strathfieldsaye’s premiership.
He was one of the Storm’s best players in their 32-point grand final win over Eaglehawk with his rebounding out of the back half.
“We see Jamieson as a player we can use off half-back with his ball use and also playing wing-type roles,” Brown said.
“He has got himself to a fitness standard where he can compete at VFL level.”
Huntly has played five years of senior football at Castlemaine and was a runaway winner of the club’s best and fairest last year.
“Kal has such a strong body and we see him as being an inside midfielder and potentially spending time forward as well,” Brown said.
“We think he can be a fairly dangerous match-up in the forward line with his power, size and ability.”
Meanwhile, Strachan played in Essendon’s AFL intra-club match on Saturday morning.
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“Kieran re-signed with us late last year and will probably be the No.1 ruckman on our VFL list at this stage,” Brown said.
“A lot will depend on how many AFL-listed players we have in the VFL side as to how many games Kieran plays, but he has had a really strong pre-season, has developed from last year and is tracking along really well.”
Strachan played two VFL games for Essendon last year, which included being named among the Bombers’ best in his debut match against North Ballarat.
Essendon’s VFL team is coached by Dan Jordan and plays its first game of 2018 against the returning Frankston on Saturday, April 7.