“We picked up John Barnes at 31 and Paul Salmon at 35 and both gave us outstanding value in the time they were here. Barnes played in a Premiership and Salmon played a significant role in ensuring we played finals’ football in 2002,” Shaw said. “At 28-years-old this bloke is a spring chicken.”
“David Hille is still learning and the development of Tristan Cartledge, Jason Laycock and Simon O’Keefe is still in its infancy. These are strategic decisions that will ensure we are more than competitive in the ruck for the duration of games. It is not very often 28-year-old All Australian ruckmen walk in off the street. If he can recapture anything like his best form he will be more than useful.”
Allan said he felt it was time for a change of scenery having struggled with injury at Carlton in recent seasons. He is now motivated an excited about the challenge that lies ahead.
“I suppose I knew my time was up and I was looking for a new challenge. I have spoken a lot with Adrian Dodoro and he has been fantastic and got me really excited about football again and being at Essendon. I am thrilled to be here,” Allan said.
“The body is feeling good now. I have had a horror run and I missed a fair bit of football in my mid-20s and that was disappointing. I am a lot smarter with my training now and that has helped me. I am really looking forward to getting a good pre-season under my belt.”
The 198cm Allan didn't miss the similarities between his arrival at Essendon and that of John Barnes and Paul Salmon.
“I played a fair bit of football against John Barnes and Fish and I am buoyed by the fact that they played well into their 30s and I am looking to do that. I just want to give Essendon some good service and experience some team success,” he said.
He is also confident that he can work in well with Essendon's number one ruckman in David Hille.
“I hope to work with David Hille and the other ruckman on the list. It is an exciting challenge for me at this stage of my career and I am very excited about it. David is an exciting young talent and I hope I can help him in some small way and fit in and play my part,” Allan said.
“You look at the way Brisbane did things in the Grand Final with two ruckman. It worked really well and you produce better efforts if you get a bit of a chop out here and there.”
