ESSENDON has made no secret of its desire to land a young ruckman in Wednesday's NAB AFL Rookie Draft.

 

The off-season departure of Patrick Ryder to Port Adelaide has left the Bombers' ruck stocks slightly thin, so the club will use its one live selection in the rookie draft to bring in a back-up big man.

 

Tom Bellchambers and ex-Giant Jonathan Giles will carry the bulk of the ruck duties throughout the season.

 

The Bombers were contemplating drafting a ruckman in Thursday's draft, but the opportunity did not end up presenting itself.

 

"We will look in the rookie draft for a ruckman, it just didn't fall our way for a ruckman this time," Essendon coach James Hird told the club's website.

 

"We just didn’t think one would get through of the quality that we wanted.

"We will look in the rookie draft to see if there is a ruckman around but if not Dustin Fletcher may play in the ruck, who knows."

That big man could be 210cm Angus Milham, who has been training with Essendon in the lead up the draft.

Milham was the tallest draft prospect last year and when he missed selection he was recruited to the Bombers' VFL side from the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup.

Another big man in the mix is Sam Tagliabue, although the 206cm ruckman has caught Adelaide's eye recently.

Hird said the off-season additions of Adam Cooney, James Gwilt and Giles adds another layer of experience to the club's young list.

Adding talented youngsters Kyle Langford and Jayden Laverde, in Thursday's draft, were also big fillips for the Bombers.

"We have one more pick now in the rookie draft and then we'll go away and look at our options but we are very happy with the list," Hird said.

"It is a bit more mature than it has been over the past four or five years but with that maturity comes the ability to go a bit further than we have."