First-year Bomber Paul Thomas will get the opportunity to play in his home state and against the side that dumped him when Essendon takes on the Crows at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night. Thomas comes into the side along with speedster Jason Winderlich. They replace injured pair Justin Murphy (knee) and Jobe Watson (thigh).

The 2004 Magarey Medallist has been a consistent performer for the Bendigo Bombers this season and he has certainly acquitted himself well in his two senior games thus far. Those games came against Sydney in Round 7.

""He played well against Geelong on Gary Ablett and was a bit stiff to get dropped. In hindsight we probably should have stuck with him,"" Essendon assistant Robert Shaw said.

""He is strong and a straight ahead type player who you will never die wondering about - he leaves it all out on the ground. He has worked hard on flexibility and can now play off half back and have a run in the midfield. We picked him because he is strong over the ball and he can handle wet, slippery conditions well and that is what we are expecting this weekend.""

The Essendon side is:

Backs: Thomas Fletcher Zantuck
Half Backs: McPhee Lucas Welsh
Centres: M. Johnson J. Johnson Solomon
Half Forwards: Cupido Bradley Lovett
Forwards: Laycock Lloyd Hird
Rucks: Hille Peverill McVeigh
Bench: Lovett-Murray, Stanton, Alvey, Winderlich

Emergencies: Reynolds, Dyson, Monfries

In: Paul Thomas, Jason Winderlich
Out: Jobe Watson (thigh), Justin Murphy (knee)

 

Frankston v Bendigo Bombers
Sunday 5th June
Frankston Oval at 2.00pm

The Bendigo side is:

Backs: Jolley Wilson Slattery
Half Backs: Bullen Richards Reynolds
Centres: Hunt Rosa Doering
Half Forwards: Nash Beasy Blumfield
Forwards: Robins Johns Haynes
Rucks: Cartledge Carter Dyson
Bench: Bain Childs Marsh Robson Connaughton Monfries Pendlebury Steel