Adam McPhee has had an ideal start to his career at Essendon. After coming to the club last year in the trade that saw Blake Caracella go to Brisbane, Des Headland go to Fremantle and Damian Cupido come to Essendon, the 20-year-old has played every game this season and played with a maturity beyond his years. Despite the trade being in its infant stages, it is already regarded as one of the best in recent years and being compared to the success of the Paul Barnard and Sean Wellman trade.

""I think I did gain a bit of respect this season, but there is still a lot of work to go and if I don't back it up next year and show that I am improving, I will probably lose that respect pretty quick. I am really looking forward to next year and hopefully improving and becoming a better player than what I was this year,"" McPhee said.

McPhee's hardness at the ball caught the eye of a lot of Essendon supporter's this season and his tireless work rate also impressed many. The former Fremantle player played the majority of the season in defence and also across the wing. At times he would float forward, but he never held down a key forward position. His stats card read at the end of the season 10 goals, 178 kicks and 140 handballs. ""I didn't actually didn't get named in the forwardline once this season. In the West Coast game I was named on the wing, but I was able to float forward and kick a few goals. The team worked me out the next week and I wasn't able to do it. In terms of kicking goals, that was my best game - I thought there was a few other games during the year that probably weren't as noticeable because I didn't kick goals, but I thought I did a good job on some key players.""

Originally from Narre Warren, McPhee moved to Fremantle at the end of 2000 when the Dockers selected him with their second draft choice. McPhee enjoyed his two seasons at Fremantle and the lifestyle over in Perth. ""I was pretty happy over in Fremantle in terms of living there. I guess I just got the opportunity to come to Essendon and I just grabbed it. It is not a big difference living away from home for me, so I didn't find that too hard. I just think I got another opportunity at Essendon.""

At just 20-years of age, McPhee has a big future at Essendon and he said the disappointment of being knocked out early in the finals this season, will be extra incentive for next year. ""Looking at everyone's face after the game - there was a lot of disappointment. We actually thought we could win and go a bit further. From my point of view, I was very disappointed as well. Generally the message from Sheeds in the end was Port was a lot more experienced than us and they stitched us up at stoppages. He also said we have got a great young team coming through and next year is looking very good,"" McPhee said.