The 19-year-old had no idea his new home would be Windy Hill and received the good news via the live webcast at home with his family. He was invited to do a pre-season with the Demons after playing last year with the Northern Bullants. Summers finished the season strongly at the Bullants playing the final six games in the senior team. After training well with Melbourne leading up to the December 16th draft, Summers was confident of securing a spot on their rookie list.
Things didn’t quite go according to plan for the former Oakleigh Chargers player. He was actually selected by Essendon with the club’s third rookie pick and the irony is Summers is no stranger to Windy Hill. ""I did a pre-season in 2002 / 2003 so I knew Adrian (Dodoro) and kept in touch throughout the year and I also did some running with John Quinn through the year. It still was a surprise though because Essendon hadn’t called me and said they were really interested,"" Summers said.
At 184 cm in height, Summers is a penetrating kick and played at half-back flank for the Bullants last season. He has also played a lot of football through the midfield. Summers is delighted to be at his new club and often can’t believe his good fortune. ""Sometimes when I am training I will look around and there is James Hird and I am waiting for the tap on the shoulder to be told that pre-season is over,"" Summers said.
Summers has already added six kilograms over the pre-season and is keen to make a good first impression. ""You can’t afford to think your safe because you really have to push for a position. I would be wasting my time if I didn’t aspire to be on the senior list. It makes me a lot hungrier having this opportunity. I have spent a year without it and I know how hard it is to crack into a VFL team if you are not on the list. I can’t wait for the games to start.
""Last year in the VFL I wasn’t necessarily getting knocked off the ball but I could definitely tell the difference in strength from playing on a boy to a man. I knew if I wanted to do well this year I had to get a lot stronger, so this pre-season I have really concentrated on getting stronger, not necessarily heavier, just stronger,"" Summers said.
Summers takes inspiration from former rookies that have made Essendon’s senior list in recent years. He trained with Ben Haynes in the 2002 / 2003 pre-season and is rapt with what he has achieved in the past year – not only breaking into the senior team but being tagged in the final against Port Adelaide. ""It just shows that even if you do get rookied you have still got a foot in the door and a good opportunity, so anything can happen from here,"" Summers said.
