Essendon Football Club is pleased to announce Travis Colyer has signed a new contract extension.

Colyer, who was due to come out of contract at the end of the year, has committed to a further two years at the club.

The 23-year-old said he was thrilled to be remaining in the red and black until at least the end of 2017.

“It’s great to be staying at the club which provided me with the opportunity to establish my career, and the bonds I’ve made over the years made the decision quite easy,” Colyer said.

“As a playing group we’re continuing to mature, we’re building on the experiences of last season, and the lessons learnt from 2014 are really driving the group to improve and take that next step.

“The strength of this playing group is unique and it is a huge motivation knowing your 40 plus teammates all want to achieve the same success, we want to play finals, we want to win finals and we also want to play a brand of football that’s exciting for our fans to watch.”

Senior coach James Hird said he’s been impressed by the young speedsters rise in form over the past twelve months.

“Trav’s re-signing is fantastic news for the club, he is wonderful young man to coach and a much respected member of the playing list,” Hird said.

“Last season Trav played some of his career best football, his finish to the season highlighted his importance to the team and the most pleasing aspect was watching him stand up and play well in the elimination final against North Melbourne.

“I’m confident if he can have another solid pre-season under his belt, continued development of his game will see him play more senior football in 2015.”

List Manager Adrian Dodoro said it was a pleasing re-signing for the club on the eve of a new season.

“Working with our coaches, Trav has showed a vast amount of improvement over the last 12 months and was duly rewarded for this at the Crichton Medal last year.”

“Following a strong pre-season, we’re confident Trav can again take his game to another level and we’re excited to watch him on-field this year.”

Colyer, who hails from Claremont in Western Australia, has played 46 games since being recruited to the club in the 2009 NAB AFL Draft at selection No.26 overall.