Questions on why D’Ambrosio overlooked

FORMER Collingwood recruiter Matt Rendell was left in awe of Essendon’s Massimo D’Ambrosio’s debut performance, questioning how he was overlooked in last year’s draft.

D’Ambrosio, 19, was rock solid as a rebounding defender in the Bomber’s 35-point win over St Kilda in round 14, gathering 15 disposals and four rebound 50s.

His debut in the red and black came less than three weeks after he was selected with pick three in the 2022 mid-season rookie draft.

He nominated but was overlooked in the 2021 National Draft.

“I haven’t spoken to anyone about him yet, I can only assume he must have been injured most of the year last year because he looked like he played 100 games,” Rendell told SEN’s The Sporting Capital.

“It was amazing and I haven’t spoken to any of my recruiting mates to find out what the hell happened to him last year.

“He wasn’t in any of the [championship] teams [as a junior]… I can only assume he didn’t play much, so they [clubs] probably didn’t get a good handle on it.

“Some of those players that play two or three games and look alright, [clubs] get them in through the pre-season supplemental selection period, you can take them before the end of February, but no one even did that with him.”

D’Ambrosio was in action for the Dons in their round 15 clash with West Coast in Perth.

– BY SEB MOTTRAM/ SEN