Speed the objective for Essendon at national draft as club brings in midfield polish

ESSENDON has injected some much-needed leg-speed into its midfield as it attempts to re-join the premiership contenders next season.

The Essendon table during Thursday night's draft, with head recruiter Adrian Dodoro (right) deep in thought. Picture: Getty Images

ESSENDON has injected some much-needed leg-speed into its midfield as it attempts to re-join the premiership contenders next season.

The Bombers last night resisted the temptation to add a third genuine ruckman to their list, instead opting for two pacy playmakers, Zach Merrett (No.24) and Orazio Fantasia (No.55), to add polish to a hardened onball group.

There was also a family flavour to the Bombers' moves as Merrett will join his brother Jackson at Windy Hill after 13 games in his debut season.

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Merrett is a cool-headed left-footer, who recorded the quickest decision-making times at the AFL Draft Combine in October.

The club's first two picks were stripped as part of their supplement punishment.

But recruiting chief Adrian Dodoro had faith their midfield additions, including recent trades Shaun Edwards and Kurt Aylett, would add zest to the team's ball movement.

"We have just added some speed to our team," Dodoro said.

"That was a real focus to picking the team up.

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"When you have got (Jobe) Watson (Brendon) Goddard, (Dyson) Heppell and these sort of guys, to add Edwards and Aylett in the trade as well, plus two kids today who have some genuine leg-speed, now we can play a bit quicker.

"We were always pretty keen to get some more midfield options and we were able to do that, even though we only had two picks."

From Norwood, Orazio is a small and light-framed agile goalkicker, who will help replace the void left by Alwyn Davey.

"He is lightning quick, he has a massive engine, he needs some body development and he is very, very smart," Dodoro said.

News_Rich_Media: Small midfielder Zac Merrett will be in Draft calculations on Thursday due to his silky skills and consistency for the star-studded Sandringham Dragons.

Merrett, from Sandringham Dragons, was lauded for his cleanness and accuracy by foot in the forward half of the ground in the TAC Cup this year.

Dodoro said he would bring some extra smarts to the club's forward half.

"He is elite in a lot of areas and he is still so under-developed in terms of his fitness base because he is a former cricketer who has come into the program really, really late," he said.

"We think that he has got a lot of ability although he is a bit different to his brother.

"He is left foot, he is dynamic, I think he plays a bit like Luke Power.

"He is a beautiful kick, run and carry. A lot of the really good midfielders went early and we were able to cover some ground by getting him.

"He is going to use the ball really well."