Monfries becomes the 200th player to have played under Kevin Sheedy, another amazing statistic in an amazing career. The Adelaide youngster was ecstatic to learn of his selection. ""I came over here just wanting to play one senior game and to get selected to play in the first game is fantastic,"" Monfries said.
""Dominic Cato rang me up last night to tell me I was in the 22 and would be playing on Saturday night, it was a really exciting moment, I couldn’t believe it really.""
""As soon as Dom rang me I rang home and let them know the good news. They are definitely excited and are driving over tomorrow to watch the game.""
""Now I just have to go out there and do my job, and if I do that hopefully we will win and I will be able to play again next week."" Monfries said.
Lucas and Solomon now join Mark and Jason Johnson and deputy vice captains of the club behind captain James Hird and vice captain Matthew Lloyd.
The Essendon team for Saturday night is:
Backs: M. Johnson Fletcher Welsh
Half Backs: McVeigh Bolton McPhee
Centres: Stanton J. Johnson Ramanauskas
Half backs: Murphy Lucas Hird
Forwards: Henneman Cupido Solomon
Rucks: Allan, Peverill, Bullen
Bench: Winderlich Monfries Bradley Haynes
Emergencies: Watson Richards Thomas
