""I had a chat to Joey (Misiti) and he told me about his first game as a 17-year-old. Danny Jacobs and Mark Bolton also came up to me in the rooms before the match and were just saying don't worry about it, you will be fine. I was on the bench for the first quarter and the nerves were getting pretty bad, but the moment I ran out on the ground I was fine,"" Laycock said.
Obviously the tactic by Sheedy of getting the senior players to have a chat to Laycock worked because the 18-year-old starred in the ruck against Sydney’s Adam Goodes and Nick Malceski and finished up kicking two goals. The four-time premiership coach had this to say about Laycock post-match. ""Laycock is going to be a very, very good player. We didn't even talk to him before the draft - we didn't think there was any way he would come through to us. Sunday was his first game in an Essendon jumper. I'm looking forward to seeing the next 50 or 100. On that sort of performance I would think he would play senior football at some time this season,"" Sheedy said.
Laycock was a lot more modest about his first game performance and said he is just hoping to get a game this Saturday in the Round 1 Wizard Cup match against the Kangaroos. ""I played alright and got a few touches. It was good to get the first game out of the way and hopefully I will be in the team for the first Wizard Cup match. I am not sure if I will get a game,"" Laycock said.
