EX-LION Sam Michael will play his first AFL game for Essendon on Sunday, but has already been given a big endorsement by one of the Bombers' harshest judges, captain Brendon Goddard.
Michael, Essendon's final top-up signing in February, has been promoted to a depleted senior line-up for Sunday's twilight clash against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.
The big man, who turned 23 this week, has made a huge impression at Bomberland with his professionalism and passion.
Match preview: Essendon v St Kilda
"There's one obvious standout (inclusion)," Goddard said on Saturday morning.
"Everyone at the club that knows Sammy (knows) the way he goes about his footy and how obsessed he is.
"There's being elite and there's Sam Michael.
"Everyone's really happy for him."
Delisted by the Lions at the end of 2014 after three senior games, Michael will share the ruck duties with the recalled Shaun McKernan but has improved his versatility to the extent that he can also play in key positions at either end of the ground.
That pair was among six changes, and are a direct replacement for another ex-Lion in Matthew Leuenberger (knee) and Mark Jamar (suspended).
Experienced midfielders Mathew Stokes (groin) and David Zaharakis (suspended) will also be missing from the bottom side, but Goddard said that all of the inclusions had been in good form in the VFL.
He admitted that the ruck/midfield stocks would be "a little bit thin" but the "silver lining" was that it would provide more opportunities for youngsters like Darcy Parish and incoming Kyle Langford and Jayden Laverde to spend more time in the middle.
The skipper was also determined to break a 12-game losing streak.
"(A win is) very important, not just for the players but for everyone," he said.
"We obviously got the duck off our back pretty early (against Melbourne in round two), which was really important in our eyes. It's important now for the group, as we keep growing, to get another win.
"We're not solely focused on winning, as we've all talked about this whole process, but winning solves a lot of problems and keeps a lot of people happy."
Goddard's demand for excellence is well documented but he said he had modified his approach in certain ways this season.
"I haven't changed my view on driving our standards, particularly the standards that we've all agreed to and want to achieve together," he said.
"But I guess, as an overall mind-frame, I've got lower expectations of the group in terms of performance and been careful of not asking guys to do things they're not capable of doing at this stage in their career.
"But I haven't slackened off in the areas that we deem to be important within our trademark and what we want to achieve out of games and what we want to look like during games."
Goddard said that his old club St Kilda was a dangerous opponent "led by great players and older guys who are still playing well" and had shown their best footy could compete against the top teams.
He revealed he was more at peace playing against his former teammates.
"We all know the first (game) was quite difficult," he said, referring to a teary post-match interview after beating the Saints round four, 2013.
"But now I feel a lot more comfortable. It's a little bit different now – there's a lot of young guys I don't know at the Saints."
Goddard, 31, said there were no updates to share on his ongoing contract negotiations.
