Former Central Districts youngster and 2004 Magarey Medallist Paul Thomas said after being drafted he was coming to Essendon to play senior football. He has only had to wait three rounds to get his opportunity after today being named in the Bombers’ side to play Geelong on Saturday night.

Thomas was named in back pocket, replacing the injured Adam Ramanauskas. Nathan Lovett-Murray and Ben Haynes also return to the senior side while Ted Richards and Marc Bullen have been omitted.

""I am really excited,"" Thomas said after learning of his selection. ""We won our first game last weekend and we have a chance to really get some momentum going if we can beat Geelong on the weekend. I’m just really glad to be a part of it and hopefully I can do the job for the team.""

The Essendon side is:

Backs: Thomas Fletcher Bolton
Half Backs: McVeigh, McPhee Lovett-Murray
Centres: Welsh Jason Johnson Lovett
Half Forwards: Lucas Bradley Haynes
Forwards: Solomon Lloyd Hird
Rucks: Henneman Mark Johnson Peverill
Bench: Laycock Stanton Murphy Monfries
Emergencies: Dyson Richards Rioli