New Bomber Peter Wright says he is excited to be joining a club where he belives he'll feel valued after securing a trade from the Gold Coast.
Wright, 24, struggled to break into the Suns’ side this year following the emergence of fellow tall Ben King and left the club in exchange for Essendon's future fourth-round pick.
The 203cm forward said he was delighted to seal a move to Essendon, saying he was excited to secure a “long-term” future at Tullamarine.
“The interest has really escalated in recent weeks,” he said on SEN Breakfast.
“Speaking to the Gold Coast, they were open for me to explore other opportunities and I was keen to get to a club where I felt valued and there was a long-term future for me there and Essendon fit that.
“The (deal) developed in the last couple of weeks.”
King effectively took Wright’s spot in the Gold Coast line up this year, meaning he only played scratch matches for all of 2020 with second-tier competitions across the country suspended due to COVID-19.
When Wright was asked about his relationship with the fellow forward throughout a challenging year, he hoped the competitive tension at training between the pair was ultimately a good thing.
“I think you do challenge yourself,” he said.
“Ben (King) is really talented, and he’ll have a really strong future at the Suns.
“We all tried to (make) each other better and we thought that improving each other is better for the team, it obviously didn’t fall my way there which is disappointing, but hopefully I made him a better player and he made me a better player.
“I have nothing against any of that, it’s just how football works sometimes. It’s a challenge and part of football, you just hope you come out on top.”
Wright, who has signed with Essendon until at least the end of 2023, said he was hoping to begin training with the club early next month.
“I’m hoping to get down to Melbourne in December,” he said.
“The younger group will get back and train before then, it’ll all depend on COVID and the restrictions, whether I’ll be able to get in and out of Melbourne as I’m hoping to have Christmas in Queensland.
“But hopefully it’ll happen in December.”