With Tom Bellchambers among the 12 current Bombers suspended for the 2016 season for their roles in the supplements saga, Essendon desperately needed to find another ruckman to provide support for ex-Lion Matthew Leuenberger.

“We obviously needed to add a ready-made ruckman to our list. Mark, as a big-bodied, All Australian ruckman will provide us with a great deal of experience,” said Rob Kerr, Essendon’s general manager of football.

Jamar, 32, played 155 matches in 14 seasons with the Demons, but only managed five senior games in 2015.

He had previously conceded his AFL career was over when he was cut by Melbourne, instead committing to play amateur football.

He had initially signed with Essendon as a part-time ruck coach before the change in the club’s circumstances saw him decide to again don the boots.

Jamar had also reportedly attracted interest from Port Adelaide who, along with other clubs with players hit by the Essendon sanctions, have lobbied to be allowed similar top-up exemptions.

AFL chief Gillon McLachlan, in Adelaide today for the launch of the NAB Challenge at Unley Oval, said Port had a strong argument for recruiting mature aged top-up players, but that doesn’t mean it will happen.

Two former Essendon players now at Port, big-man Paddy Ryder and forward Angus Monfries, are among those banned for the season, and Jamar would have given the Power a ready-made back-up for ruckman Matthew Lobbe.

But McLachlan says it will be up to AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon to decide whether Port, as well as St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs, can join Essendon in topping up their lists.

The clubs were initially told by the AFL they can only replace their suspended players by upgrading rookie-listed footballers.

They have until the end of today to make written submissions to the AFL, with a decision expected by the end of the week.

“I sympathise with everyone involved in this extraordinary saga. It’s been going for too long,” McLachlan told reporters in Adelaide.

“I think you can make a strong argument from both sides. [Dillon] is closely looking at it.”

Port says it will be two players short of a standard 44-man playing list if its top-up request is knocked back, a situation captain Travis Boak described as unfair.

“I think it’s only fair if we’re at a level playing field in terms of numbers on our list,” Boak said.

McLachlan, who is meeting with both Adelaide-based clubs while he is in town, confirmed Port Adelaide had sought advice from the AFL about the potential risk of recruiting players from Essendon.

But he said the AFL could not have provided definitive answers in any case.

“I’m not sure what we could have added, other than what was already known,” he said.

The Bombers can sign a maximum of 10 top-up players.

They have previously agreed to terms with ex-Geelong premiership stars James Kelly and Mathew Stokes, former Dockers tagger Ryan Crowley, Jonathan Simpkin, Matt Dea and James Polkinghorne.

-AAP