ESSENDON has handed two of the club's most revered jumper numbers to top-10 draft picks Darcy Parish and Aaron Francis ahead of next season in a raft of guernsey changes for the Bombers.
Parish will wear No.3, made famous in the red and black by the greatest Bomber in history, three-time Brownlow medallist and four-time premiership player Dick Reynolds.
Francis will don the No.10, worn by goalkicking great John Coleman in his short but brilliant career for the Bombers between 1949-54.
The talented Parish and Francis, who are expected to push for senior debuts early next season after being selected at last week's NAB AFL Draft, are among 15 jumper changes at Essendon next season.
Dons hope for early impact from Parish, Francis
However, the Bombers have not allocated No.31, worn by the now retired Dustin Fletcher in 400 matches over 23 years.
Emerging half-back Martin Gleeson has moved from No.35 to No.8 after the retirement of Jason Winderlich, while new recruits Matthew Leuenberger (No.22) and Craig Bird (No.24) have also been handed their numbers for next season.
Gleeson, who played every game for the Bombers last season and continued his development as a running defender, said he hadn't been interested in a change until Winderlich left the club.
"There was an opportunity there when 'Licha' retired to move down in numbers a bit so I'd thought I'd take it and there's obviously been some good players at the club to wear No.8," Gleeson told AFL.com.au.
"I wasn't eyeing off any number at the time when he retired, I was pretty happy where I was. But I thought it was a good opportunity to move numbers so I didn't let 'Licha' know, but I probably should've."
Martin Gleeson has moved to No.8 ahead of the 2016 season. Picture: AFL Media
Of the other jumper switches, Adam Cooney has moved from No.13 to No.17, the number he wore in 219 games with the Western Bulldogs, while Orazio Fantasia will take on Cooney's No.13 number.
Second-round draft picks Alex Morgan (No.25) and Mason Redman (No.27) and fellow pick-ups Mitch Brown (No.28), Yestin Eades (No.35) and Michael Hartley (No.36) have also been allocated their numbers for next season.
Gleeson heads into his fourth AFL season confident he can continue to develop in his role across half-back, with the 21-year-old already adding four kilograms to his frame.
He intends to put on a couple more before the season starts, having been pleased to play out the full 2015 campaign.
"Individually it was great to play 22 games last year and get through a full season. I've got to build on that and perform week-in, week-out," Gleeson said.
"Prior to that (in) my previous two years in the system, I only played half-years where I missed big chunks of footy with injury. It boosted my confidence to know I can get through a full year."
Gleeson is among a batch of promising young Essendon players who will be charged with helping the Bombers back up the ladder after their bottom-four finish this season.
Alongside the likes of Zach Merrett, Joe Daniher, Kyle Langford, Jayden Laverde and the club's recent haul of draftees, Gleeson knows the group can help shape Essendon's fortunes.
"We've talked about that as a young group and we've obviously got to provide the enthusiasm and the excitement for the team," Gleeson said.
"The older guys know what they've got to do and their performance every week is very good, but the inconsistency can come from us younger guys so we need to keep working on that and keep driving each other to make the team better."
NEW ESSENDON JUMPER NUMBERS
3 – Darcy Parish
8 – Martin Gleeson
10 – Aaron Francis
13 – Orazio Fantasia
17 – Adam Cooney
22 – Matthew Leuenberger
24 – Craig Bird
25 – Alex Morgan
27 – Mason Redman
28 – Mitch Brown
35 – Yestin Eades
36 – Michael Hartley
37 – Gach Nyuon
43 – Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti
46 – Tom Wallis
