Essendon have announced that young defender Luamon Lual will debut for the Bombers on Sunday night against Carlton, as a calf injury has ruled out star defender Mason Redman.
Lual has joined a long list of Bombers to don the sash in 2025, as Essendon have dealt with injury carnage to key stocks throughout the first of the season.
Isaac Kako, Tom Edwards, Saad El-Hawli, Lewis Hayes and Archer Day-Wicks, Angus Clarke, and Zak Johnson have all made their first appearances in red and black this season, however it has hardly startled the Bombers, who sit with a winning record of 6-5 heading into Sunday night's match.
Drafted in 2023 at Pick 39, Lual has developed his craft as a winger in the VFL this season after a pre-season dedicated to the position.
The 20-year-old has found a knack for pushing forward and hitting the scoreboard, kicking three goals from the last four games in the state league. The versatile athlete can also dash off halfback too, just as Redman would if he were not injured in the lead-up to the King's Birthday Eve clash.
The late change follows Carlton's injury news earlier on Saturday, with Harry McKay set to join his brother Ben on the sidelines due to knee soreness.
That injury also led the way for a Blues debutant in Hudson O'Keeffe, a 20-year-old competitive ruckman taken through the Supplemental Selection Period in 2022.
The final 23 will be confirmed an hour before the first bounce on Sunday, at 6:20 pm AEST.
