Bomber's son on Bomber radar

Daniel Thompson (second from left) pictured last year with Calder Cannons teammates (from left): Joel Madden (son of Justin), Charly Williams (son of Greg), Darcy Bailey (son of Dean) and Joe Daniher (son of Anthony). Picture: Hamilton Fiona Source: Herald Sun

ESSENDON will trial premiership captain Mark Thompson's son in the VFL tonight in the hope he can develop into a father-son pick.

The Bombers today confirmed 19-year-old defender Daniel Thompson would line up against Bendigo Gold as Essendon launches its new stand-alone reserves club.

Dons VFL general manager Matt Little said he met the 189cm Thompson at training last night and was impressed by his size.

"He's really solid. Most you see that come through the TAC Cup are pretty skinny. But he's got some size about him, I think he's 91 or 92kg, he's very much in the mould of Jacob, his cousin, who plays for us as well," Little told SuperFooty.

"We're expecting him to make an impact, like he has at Calder (Cannons) so far this year, he's got some nice skills and a really solid body.

"So one-on-one we expect him to hold his own."

Asked if the Dons would seriously consider Thompson, Little said: "You'd be silly not to have a look at someone who's come from a good pedigree.

"He's playing some good footy at Calder and now to see how he handles it at VFL level is the next step.

"Tonight he'll be up against a lot of players his age, too, so he gets to match it with those blokes in a better competition."

Thompson has played eight games at TAC Cup level, with Cannons region manager Ian Kyte praising his ability to read the ball.

He is expected to play as a third defender tonight, and Kyte said Thompson was a chance to earn a father-son rookie place at Essendon at the end of the year.

The VFL Bombers will field a formidable side boasting about 20 AFL-listed players courtesy of their blank injury list.

Little said Martin Gleeson had stood out at training with some tricks and praised the courage of pre-season draft pick Will Hams, who was named an emergency for the clash against Melbourne tomorrow night.

"Will's been really good over the last three or four weeks," he said.

"He's really hard at it even though he's undersized, he uses the ball well and he's not afraid to put his head in the hole, so he's definitely got some potential."

The Round 1 match kicks off at Queen Elizabeth Oval in Bendigo at 6.30pm.

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