ONE of Kevin Sheedy's greatest legacies to Essendon was that he taught the club and, indeed the competition, how to sell youth. Sheeds would do this whenever Essendon struggled.

"Are you disappointed with the loss, Kevin?," we'd ask. "Yes, but I'm pleased to see a kid like (insert name of any Essendon player of the past quarter-century) do well. We're building a new team at Essendon …"

On he would go, spinning a positive story from a defeat and most of time, his line would be swallowed by the media — and the fans.

Sheedy would have loved to tell the tale of the fifth Daniher — Darcy — to wear the red and black. Darcy is the son of Anthony Daniher, the third of the four brothers from Ungarie to play for Essendon, and was one of three debutants to suit up for a very raw and unseasoned Essendon last night.

Matthew Knights will now spend 2008 selling the youth story. He probably won the Essendon job because he was seen as unlike Sheedy — more organised, young and relevant to kids — but circumstances mean he will be forced to reach into his predecessor's kitbag and start spinning the rebuilding yarn. He has no choice because the Bombers don't have much else to hawk; the initial flush of new-coach excitement has worn off, Scott Lucas, Dustin Fletcher and Mark McVeigh are grounded and, on what we've seen, more floggings are in store — the downside of that attacking style is that a team leads with its chin.

So, whereas some at the club might have nursed fantasies about vaulting up the ladder and playing finals, 2008 will be spent in the ladder's lower reaches "promoting" (in both senses of the word) kids.

You don't forget the first time, no matter how inept the performance. So whatever they do in the remainder of their careers, Darcy Daniher, Jarrod Atkinson and David Myers will one day chuckle about the miserable twilight game at the Dome when they all made their debuts and the Bombers were smashed by Port Adelaide.

Daniher might have the most vivid recall, given that he had the misfortune to spend a short period of the second quarter on Daniel Motlop last night.

In what was a cruel mismatch, Daniher, a key position prospect, spent a matter of minutes standing the quicksilver Motlop, so hot he booted two goal-of-the-year contenders and pulled down a speccie in the goal square en route to seven goals.

It was a brief, second-quarter encounter that netted Motlop two very quick goals. The first was a special: he turned Darcy inside out, swerved, baulked another red and black witches hat and, running out of room, steered a banana through. Another followed a moment later and Knights, mercifully, sent yet another hapless Don (he had six opponents) to be carved up by Motlop.

Daniher finished with four possessions. Myers, who spent much of the first quarter on the bench, managed an unobtrusive 14. Atkinson had 10 touches and the most noticeable — he took a very nice contested mark, hoofed the ball some distance once or twice on his left and seemed to have some flair.

First games give us only superficial impressions of a player, and it's most unwise to project career potential. John Coleman booted 12 on debut, but John Georgiadis also booted eight for the Dogs and West Coast's Danny Metropolis five for the Weagles in their first games. Jonathan Brown, on the other side of the coin, had the emergency phone call debut — the triple zero of no kicks, marks or handballs.

One observation of Essendon's three new kids: they are all a decent size. Atkinson is 185 centimetres and a solid 86 kilograms, albeit he's a 23-year-old VFL graduate and therefore has to make an impact in his first year. Teenagers Daniher and Myers are 191 and 190 centimetres respectively and seemed to move well enough for players of those dimensions.

We shouldn't rush to judge novice players, and Knights must wish such generosity is applied to coaches in their first season. He'll sell the future, while hoping he is around to see it.