Essendon fans have enjoyed the performances of rookie Damien Peverill over the past nine weeks - he has taken on and beaten some of the best on-ballers in the competition. The story of the Bomber rookie has been told in detail but few people are aware just how close he came to missing his opportunity to play with the Bombers. Peverill played with Coburg in the VFL competition in 1998 and some of 1999 before joining Melbourne as a top up player later that season. At the end of that season Peverill was told he was no longer required by the Demons - the Bombers wanted him but they soon had a fight on their hands.

Last season the VFL was re-structured with AFL reserves sides' joining the competition. Under the rules of the new competition Peverill was still tied to Coburg. The Bombers had made it clear they wanted Peverill and the youngster - who had followed Essendon his whole life - put in a clearance request. He wanted to play for the Bombers as a top-up player in the new VFL competition instead of with Coburg. Coburg quickly refused his clearance application.

""We appealed straight away,"" Essendon football manager Matthew Drain said. ""We thought he had the ability to play top level football and argued that his interests would be best served by remaining with an AFL club.""

""To be quite honest I wasn't that confident we would get him,"" Drain said. ""Similar cases had not gone in favor of the club's in our position. But we really believed he would benefit from staying in the system and working with our development coach Dean Bailey.""

Drain obviously put together a compelling case. The appeal, which cost Essendon a $2500 clearance fee, was upheld and Peverill became a Bomber. ""I suppose right now that was a small price to pay for someone who we think could be a pretty good player for the next few seasons.""

Keep an eye out for the August edition of the Bomber Magazine which features a four-page story on Damien Peverill.