No less than 11 new players were welcomed to the Essendon Football Club at last night's official Induction Night held in the club's Hall of Fame. As part of the night, retired champion Paul Salmon addressed the inductees and spoke about how much Essendon had become a part of his life, the opportunities it had given him and the opportunities that were now there for each new player at the club.

But as is Paul Salmon's way, among the serious messages came the light-hearted stories. Salmon spoke about how exciting his first year at the club was and how nervous he had been on the morning of his first senior game. Fish had arranged to pick up star player, and now teammate, Paul Van Der Haar on the way to the match. Having tooted the horn and waited for a while outside Van Der Haar's house, Salmon decided he should go in and get Van Der Haar. He found him sound asleep in the spa.

Salmon told the inductees that they had joined a great club that was rock solid from the foundations up. Kevin Sheedy also spoke and he asked the young players to take risks, get out of the comfort zone and most importantly to believe in themselves.

The inductees were Jason Laycock, Jason Winderlich, Tristan Cartledge, Darren Walsh, Jobe Watson, Ben Haynes, Courtney Johns, Adrian Wilson, Toby McGrath, Adam McPhee and Damian Cupido.