Collingwood is set to field its top selection from the 2006 AFL Draft against Hawthorn at Telstra Dome on Sunday.

Senior coach Mick Malthouse announced to the media at the Lexus Centre on Thursday that 196-centimetre key forward Ben Reid will become the eighth player to debut for the Magpies in 2007.

Blessed with tremendous athleticism and skill, Reid will be the 1069th player to pull on the Collingwood guernsey, and follows Daniel Nicholls, Shannon Cox, Brad Dick, Alan Toovey, Tyson Goldsack, Danny Stanley and Martin Clarke as Magpie debutants so far this season.

“Ben Reid’s form has been terrific, so he’ll come into the side and he’ll play full forward, half forward, centre-half forward, he’ll do some ruck work on the forward line,” Malthouse explained.

“We almost picked him three weeks ago, and since then he’s kicked three, one and four (for Collingwood’s VFL affiliate Williamstown), but it’s not so much the goals he’s kicked, it’s the way he’s gone about it, he’s ready to play.”

Taken from the Murray Bushrangers with the No.8 overall pick in what was considered one of the strongest drafts ever, the versatile Reid has been extremely impressive for Williamstown so far this season.

With regards to the Magpies blooding an astonishing eight first-year players up to round 13, and still being able to sit fourth on the ladder, Malthouse said it’s because the young players have earned their places through excellent performances, not because they’ve been needed to make up the numbers because of injury.

“Cox’s form, when he came back into the side, was excellent. Toovey’s form, when he came into the side, was excellent. Dick’s form was excellent. Danny Stanley’s form was excellent,” Malthouse added.

“Guy Richards went back and had a blinder. Martin Clarke’s form has been excellent all year, so we bring those guys in with the knowledge that we don’t have to guess about their form.

“We played 10 (first gamers) probably three or four years ago, but with all due respects to the ten, we were under the pump, we had massive number of injuries, and we played players who perhaps weren’t ready, and as a consequence, it would be fair to say our selection process was based on numbers, it wasn’t based on form.

“At the end of that year, only six survived of the ten that played. I’d be very surprised, of the eight we’ve played so far, that they’re not all here next year.

“That to me is an indication of how they’ve performed, not because they’re young players getting games, they’ve been able to demonstrate they’re able to play footy. They’re able to play at the highest level.

“Ben’s got to come in and play at the highest level, but all the rest of them, none of them have let us down.”

Last week Reid, who only turned 18 in April and was the youngest player selected in last year’s draft, was one of the Seagulls’ best against Werribee when he played on Bulldog great Chris Grant and finished with four goals and ten marks.

Collingwood secured the draft pick used to acquire Reid in the trade that sent Chris Tarrant to Fremantle and also saw Paul Medhurst join the Magpies.