The El Achkar household was packed on Thursday night as Calder Cannons’ Hussien El Achkar awaited whether he would be drafted.
After sitting through night one, the Essendon Next Generation Academy member nervously watched on night two surrounded by friends and family.
Richmond put a bit on El Achkar at pick 53 with the Bombers quickly matching it to get their man.
A standout from the Dons’ NGA-James Hird Academy program, El Achkar is seen as a pure excitement machine.
The 171cm small forward took over games for the Dons’ affiliate Calder Cannons in a dynamic two-year Coates Talent League stint, slotting 47 goals from 26 appearances including an eye-catching six-goal haul against Sandringham this season.
With Vic Metro, El Achkar’s three goals against the Allies was another solid effort. In his debut with Essendon VFL on the road, he lifted his side with a quick burst of three goals after half-time.
Essendon national recruiting manager Rob Forster-Knight said they were pretty happy to lock in El Achkar.
“It was our number one priority to be honest coming into tonight [Thursday],” he said. “Huss is obviously an outstanding person first and foremost and we’ve helped develop him for a number of years now, “Assisting the Calder Cannons of course did a great job as well in supporting Huss’ development over the last few years.
“To actually call out Huss’ name tonight [Thursday] is recognition for Huss and his family and our program as well, led by Marty Allison.”
Among those there to celebrate with El Achkar was his new Bombers teammate Isaac Kako.
Like El Achkar he came through the Bombers academy and the Cannons.
“They’ve got a strong bond those two, that is for sure,” Forster-Knight said. “I’m sure that Huss is now looking forward to one of Isaac’s official teammates
“They’ll learn off each other and have similar games to some extent.”
