Essendon great Tim Watson has revealed first-year player Josh Eyre invited him to present his jumper ahead of the new season.
Eyre, who is a graduate of the club’s Next Generation Academy, has been handed Watson’s old number 32 after being drafted with pick 39 in last year’s draft.
Watson said he was touched by the gesture and was impressed by the teenager reaching out to him directly.
“I got a text message yesterday from a number I didn’t recognise,” he said on SEN Breakfast.
“It was from a young kid named Josh Eyre, he’s a young kid who has graduated from the club’s Academy and is on the list now and has been handed the number 32 jumper.
“(The message read) Hi Tim, my name is Josh Eyre and I’ve recently been lucky enough to join Essendon and be given the great number 32 (jumper). I was wondering whether you’d be available to come to The Hanger for the jumper presentation to present me with my guernsey.
“I was chuffed, that is the first time since 1994 when I left the club where I had received a text message like that from a player (at Essendon) who has been handed the number 32 (jumper I used to wear).
“I think this also goes to the heart of what (new head coach) Ben Rutten is trying to create at Essendon, full credit to him for doing that. I think he’s trying to get the current-day players to try and understand the club and what they’re representing.”
Eyre was one of the two players selected by the Bombers from their Next Generation Academy last year, with lifelong Essendon fan Cody Brand joining the club with pick 53 in the 2020 draft.