Friday 21st Nov & Monday 24th Nov
- thebombersblog
- 8 minutes ago
- 5 min read
It starts here.
Finally had my first opportunity to get down to pre-season training on Friday, and backed it up again today to get another early look at what 2026 may hold for Essendon fans.
In this review I’ll run through overall training standards, some subtle tweaks to situational work, and, most importantly, who’s on the track compared to the same point last year.
As is typical at The Hangar, whenever the wind is up in Melbourne it seems to double in intensity out there, and Friday’s session was no exception. Today, however, was the complete opposite: warm, still, and the perfect chance to assess ball-use without a hint of breeze.
New versus old.
The opening day of pre-season in early November featured the first 2km time trial, won by ex-Carlton midfielder Jaxon Binns. Second-year Angus Clarke was next among the 1st–4th year group, his 5:55 providing a benchmark to compare against today’s times.
Almost half of the senior list took part in today’s 2km run, joined by the five new draftees from last week. Mason Redman led the group with a time around 6:20, followed by Xavier Duursma, Andrew McGrath and Brayden Fiorini, while Dyson Sharp was the first of the new recruits across the line.
Who’s there.
The contrast in numbers on the track compared to last year is enormous, and looking back it’s clear how much a delayed start to pre-season can cost. Players who miss early sessions inevitably fall behind, and once the season begins there’s little chance to make up for lost time. That difference is already visible in how quickly some players have settled into training both times I have been on hand, showing the fitness and confidence that comes from being involved from the start.
At this stage in 2024, Jye Caldwell hadn’t participated in any drills as he recovered from end-of-season surgery. This year, by all reports, he hasn’t missed a session, and on both Friday and today he’s clearly committed to starting 2026 strongly.
Darcy Parish, by contrast, was walking the boundary at this point last year. While he hasn’t been part of every drill in these first sessions, he’s certainly looked the best I’ve seen him in almost three years. Staff are understandably managing his workload, but whenever he’s involved, it’s high intensity.
Ben McKay got plenty of value out of his new runners last year, with his football boots left at home for much of November and December. That’s not the case this pre-season. Like Parish, he hasn’t been part of every drill, but when he has, he’s contested strongly in the air and taken on running challenges, a marked step up from 2024.
I’ll admit I didn’t have high hopes for Nik Cox this year, after he only walked laps infrequently last November. In the most positive sense, 12 months on he’s participating in all warm-up drills and pushing into contesting work both in the air and at ground level, which is a very encouraging sign. Fingers crossed.
Zak Johnson, as expected, joined pre-season training late last year, and his heavily taped shoulder after surgery was impossible to miss throughout his first season. This time, he’s clearly bandage-free and unrestricted, with nothing holding him back.
Jordan Ridley, both on Friday and today, has purely run — sprinted laps, in fact. After a wretched three-year period through injury, it’s clear that careful load management is the main reason he hasn’t fully joined the rest of the group.
Video courtesy of Rick Edwards.
For more highlights and behind-the-scenes footage from today, Friday, and previous training sessions, Rick has set up a Patreon page with even more in-depth content.
Nate Caddy was reported last week to be managing groin soreness, with workloads expected to be scaled over the coming weeks. On Friday, he completed all warm-up and cooldown drills and ran freely but skipped the main training; today he joined every drill, completing the full two-hour program alongside his teammates.
The ACL “amigos” — Tom Edwards, Lewis Hayes and Nick Bryan — warmed up with the main group on both mornings before continuing their rehabilitation separately, focusing on consistent running and leaping for the entire four-plus hours I was on site.
Elijah Tsatas had an easier session on Monday compared with Friday, which itself wasn’t particularly high intensity, while Archie Perkins and Harrison Jones have yet to make their way onto the ground.
No vision or updates on Nic Martin at this stage.
The new guys.
All five new draftees made their first appearances for Essendon fans and immediately hit the ground running — literally and figuratively. Their first 2km time trial saw Max Kondogiannis and Jacob Farrow finish midfield, behind Dyson Sharp and ahead of Sullivan Robey and Hussein Al Achkar. The group spent just over an hour on the track, occasionally stepping aside to speak with coaches about expectations and technique during drills. Last year, aside from Isaac Kako and Jayden Nguyen, the new recruits joined later in the pre-season, so it will be interesting to see how this year’s cohort compares.
Training drills.
There hasn’t been much of note in terms of game plan changes to this point, but one early positive is the emphasis on moving the ball more quickly by foot. Coaches have been instructing players to make their decisions on the count of two, encouraging a sense of urgency and movement that was evident across both sessions.
Handball drills remain centred on taking territory forward, as they were last year, but there’s more of a focus so far on spreading to create space, rather than everyone being drawn to the ball.
On both days, the final drill before goal-kicking practice was around defending the front half and rebounding 50 entries, with exits going long and wide, and then change of direction for re-entries.
Conditions on Friday made execution difficult at times, particularly with ball movement, but today was much slicker, with players judging leading options more precisely.
Catching the eye.
Not many players stood out like Zach Reid did last year, and he remains the standout this season. “The Wall” has been impenetrable in the air in match-sim. With a quick swivel to locate both his closest matchup and available support, he either takes the ball at its highest point or brings it to ground to his teammates’ advantage.
Kyle Gerreyn has shown the most improvement in 12 months. Now spending all his time learning as a defender, his energy, agility, and ability to locate matchups in contests is a huge step forward compared to his first pre-season.
Jayden Nguyen’s “bounce” with ball in hand remains unmissable, just as it was last year. His default “get, give, get” approach when taking the ball forward should continue to be a valuable asset, one that should be constantly encouraged and not trained out of him.
Expectations.
It’s very early in pre-season, and there’s a long road ahead, even before the Christmas break, but there are a few areas I’m hoping to see develop further. Tackling technique is one — particularly using arms to wrap and control an opponent, rather than relying on hands. With such a young list, this is a fundamental skill that needs to be established early to set standards.
With more players available at this stage compared to previous years, I also expect to see continued emphasis on full-ground ball movement. Early signs suggest the handball game introduced last year may shift back towards kicking, but in either case, positioning, connection, and work rate will need to improve to maintain consistency.
With a larger complement of midfielders this early in pre-season, there’s an opportunity to establish connections around stoppages, particularly given the significant changes to the tap rucks. Both Lachie Blackiston and Vigo Visentini are new to the mix, and the sooner they gain experience with the players underneath them, the better.
An early platform has been set, but it’s only the first step in a long pre-season.
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