Essendon will unveil their 11th debutant of 2025, with ruckman Vigo Visentini confirmed to make the trip to Perth to face Fremantle on Thursday night.
The Bombers confirmed the second-year tall will suit up for his maiden appearance, following in the footsteps of Isaac Kako, Tom Edwards, Saad El-Hawli, Archer Day-Wicks, Lewis Hayes, Angus Clarke, Zak Johnson, Luamon Lual, Lachie Blakiston and Archer May in debuting for the club this campaign.
Visentini has continued his stake his claim for a call-up this year via the VFL, averaging 17.6 disposals, 31.0 hitouts and 3.3 clearances per game.
The absence of Sam Draper and Nick Bryan have opened the door for coach Brad Scott to experiment with his ruck stocks, with veteran Todd Goldstein taking on the first-string ruck duties since Round 7, playing eight games.
Vigo, youโre in ๐
Visentini will make his debut against Fremantle. pic.twitter.com/wCHV1sbMRY
— Essendon FC (@essendonfc) June 16, 2025
Visentini's inclusion will see Goldstein rested for the interstate clash, requiring Peter Wright and Lachie Blakiston to aid the ruck workload, with Visentini taking on Dockers duoย Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson at Optus Stadium.
"We'll be able to give Goldstein a two-week break, with this weekend and the bye," Scott said on Monday.
"We've been planning Vigo to play at some point, and this is the opportunity for him to come in and play."
The Bombers are unlikely to regain any players from injury, with Zach Reid (hamstring), Jordan Ridley (hamstring), Kyle Langford (quad) and El-Hawli (hamstring) all expected to return after the club's Round 16 bye.
Essendon will confirm their lineup at 6:20pm (AEST) on Wednesday, with final teams to be confirmed an hour prior to Thursday's 8:10pm opening bounce.
