ESSENDON recruit Jonathan Giles has been on the club's radar for the past four years, according to coach James Hird.
The 201cm ruckman left Greater Western Sydney in search of more opportunity after falling behind Shane Mumford as the club's No.1 ruckman, and he was traded to the Bombers in exchange for pick No.53.
Essendon sees the 26-year-old as a ready-made replacement for Paddy Ryder who was traded to Port Adelaide, citing stress from the ongoing supplements saga at the Bombers as his main reason for leaving.
Coach James Hird told essendonfc.com.au the club had been watching Giles' progression for some time.
"We have been keeping track of Jonathan for quite a while," Hird said.
"Adrian Dodoro, who has done an amazing job in this trade period, brought Jonathan here back in the 2011 pre-season and he did a week of training here."
"We have been watching his progression since that time and he has been fantastic for GWS."
"We have always liked him as a person and a footballer so when Paddy looked like leaving we looked around and he was our favoured option."
In addition to Giles, the Bombers also added some experience to their list with St Kilda defender James Gwilt as a free agent, and Brownlow medallist Adam Cooney.
"Adam is very exciting for us," James said.
"He's been an excellent player for the Western Bulldogs and whenever you can bring quality and talent into your team you should be very excited.
"To add someone with some genuine leg speed, great ball-kicking ability (and) who can really feed your forward line but is also a goal kicker, is excellent for us. He just adds something else to our midfield that we didn't have before."
After 126 games for the Saints, Gwilt was delisted by the club and the Bombers secured his services to boost their defensive stocks.
"James is a very versatile player who has good leg speed, can cover the ground and played very well in finals over his time at St Kilda with Ross Lyon," Hird said.
"He is the sort of player that can play on talls and smalls.
"You need versatility in your side and James brings that versatility as well as being a quality person who is a hard worker and will slot into our side very nicely.
"He will provide our defence and our whole team with the versatility that we need."
Meanwhile Hird has praised the loyalty of midfielder Ben Howlett, who recently signed a new two-year deal with the club.
The 25-year-old came out of contract at the end of the season with opposition clubs including Carlton, Fremantle and West Coast signalling their interest.
At the time, uncertainty surrounding Hird's position as senior coach delayed Howlett's decision to recommit to the club, with the midfielder a keen supporter of Hird.
"He's very loyal to Essendon so we're glad he's re-signed," Hird said.
"I came back to the club three or four weeks ago and had a chat to Ben about what he wanted to do.
"There's no doubt Ben had some opportunities to leave. It was a terrific show of loyalty by Ben which we were very appreciative of."
