Mature-aged recruit Anthony Scott will make his AFL debut on Friday night.
The 25-year-old was signed only a couple of weeks ago by the Western Bulldogs, as part of the AFL’s pre-season supplemental selection period.
He had been training with the Bulldogs from the start of the year.
Bailey Dale told Scott in front of teammates on Wednesday that he would be running out onto the MCG against Collingwood in round one.
Scott is a product of the Footscray VFL program and won the best and fairest in 2019, before being elevated to the vice-captaincy for 2020 before the season was cancelled.
He has slotted in seamlessly as part of the AFL program this season, featuring in a scratch match against Hawthorn, before picking up 14 disposals and two goals against Melbourne in the AAMI Community Series match.
“It’s pretty overwhelming, but it’s what I’ve always wanted to do and what I’ve worked so hard to do, so it’s pretty gratifying now to know that an opportunity is now there for me,” Scott said after his elevation to the AFL list in late February.
“Because I’ve been working for so long for this chance, I definitely won’t take it for granted.”
A versatile player, Scott has been used predominantly in defence this pre-season.
In the VFL in 2019, he showed his class as a goal-kicking midfielder, with 19 majors in 18 games.
Scott is one of four players from the Bulldogs’ VFL program currently on the AFL list, alongside Will Hayes, Ryan Gardner and Mitch Hannan.
