Jay Neagle is the latest of Essendon’s emerging key position players to commit to the future of the club after signing a new two-year deal this week.

The 21-year-old tall forward said he was excited to have penned a deal that will see him wearing the red and black until the end of the 2011 – a time when Essendon hopes to be pushing for a Premiership.

“I’m obviously very happy to be staying at the club and I’m really glad that I will be able to play alongside the same blokes that I have become good friends with for the next couple of years,” Neagle said.

“We’re all pretty young and it is a very exciting time at the club at the moment with a developing list so hopefully we will experience success in the coming years because a Premiership is something you always dream about.”
Neagle has kicked 29 goals in the 18 games he has played since being taken with pick 39 in the 2005 National Draft as a father/son selection. His dad Merv played in the Bombers' 1984 Premiership on the wing.
Football operations manager Paul Hamilton said the club was delighted to secure a player of Neagle’s calibre.

“Over recent weeks he has made some really big efforts in a number of areas to improve himself – particularly over the past six to seven weeks – and that dedication has really shown.

“We know that his dedication will continue going forward. We think his upside is pretty big and we look forward to seeing some good football from him over the next two years.”

Following the recent retirement of Scott Lucas and with Matthew Lloyd’s career drawing to a close, Hamilton says the re-signing of Neagle an even bigger coup for the club during this development phase.

“We see Jay as a forward of the future and it is important for us to stabilise the forward line and produce players that we think will be quality long-term players for the club,” he said.

“We have been fortunate as a club to have great champions like Scott Lucas, Matthew Lloyd and even James Hird in the forward line together over a period of time. Scott’s retirement makes it even more important that Jay continues his rate of improvement for us and becomes a key player.""
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Neagle is grateful for the support shown to him by Lucas and Lloyd as he has been groomed to fill the void in Essendon’s forward line.

“They teach you smarts about the game and just how professional you have to be about your football in order to achieve the best results.”

Cale Hooker and Tayte Pears also recently signed two-year deals with the club.