Essendon will have its first debutant for season 2003 when it takes on the Western Bulldogs at The Dome on Saturday night. Darren Walsh, the 27th selection at the 2002 national draft and Essendon’s fourth pick, will play his first senior AFL match. The former Sandringham Dragons wingman has earned selection following two impressive performances in the first two VFL games of the season.

Walsh, 18, has been brought into the side along with Jordan Bannister and Shane Harvey. Mark Bolton also makes his return having completed a three-match suspension that carried over form last season. Joe Misiti (strained buttock), Sean Wellman (finger) and Adam Ramanauskas (surgery) will all miss along with Paul Barnard who has been suspended.

But it is the inclusion of Walsh that will excite Essendon fans. The lightly-built youngster has explosive pace, good skills and most importantly poise. “He has been fortunate in some ways to get his first game – out of a negative (Adam Ramanauskas) has come a positive from Darren’s point of view. So he will want to grab his chance,” Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said. “He is a very similar player to Adam Ramanauskas – if he can turn into another Ramanauskas we would be delighted. He has similar running skills so hopefully he can do a job for us.”

In other selection news, Mark Mercuri has been named on the bench along with Steve Alessio, Andrew Welsh and Bannister. The emergencies for the Bombers are Ted Richards, Rob Forster-Knight and Jason Winderlich.