November 9th

Day one.

A new season, a new coach and, hopefully, a new direction. Essendon’s 2027 preseason began today, with Mark McVeigh taking charge of a playing group that should have plenty to prove in the months ahead.

The opening fortnight provides an opportunity for the first-to-fourth-year players to get a head start on their preparations, but it was extremely surprising and ultimately pleasing to see the majority of the more experienced join them on day one.

Who’s there, who’s not.

It’s much quicker to say who wasn’t on the track.

Two of the three oldest players on the list, Peter Wright and Darcy Parish, weren’t present, while neither of the two Archies, Perkins and, surprisingly, May, were sighted. New recruit Jack Bowes and Sullivan Robey were in attendance, but neither took part in track work or drills that followed.

All up, 33 listed players either completed everything set for the day or, at worst, were pulled aside to concentrate on a modified program.

Among those who were away from the main group but covered plenty of kilometres around the perimeter were Nic Martin and Archie Roberts, with Harrison Jones joining them on the wing and working through agility tests between rests.

One player not yet on the list, but almost certain to be in 12 months’ time, was Koby Bewick, who trained alongside his future teammates and joined in with most of the work set for the day.

At this point last year, bandage stocks must have been running low, with so many returning from serious long term injuries. This time around, there wasn’t a single bit of strapping on anyone. May that continue, please.

Brayden Fiorini, Dyson Sharp and Lewis Hayes all spent time wearing the fluorescent green (it could have been yellow) no-contact hats, but otherwise, everyone else was unrestricted in what was set for the day.

1,2,3.

A quick warm-up preceded the first of many running sessions of the pre-season, with the list’s MAS (maximal aerobic speed) being assessed through a VAMEVAL test.

With players running mostly in pairs, and some in groups of three, the aim is to establish the running speed at which the body reaches its maximum capacity to utilise oxygen during exercise. This is achieved by progressively increasing the required running speed until players can no longer maintain the pace, providing an estimate of their MAS that can then be used to set running intensities for their individual training programs.

Many would have been familiar with this, having grown up training, or at least knowing, the classic beep test.

Angus Clarke took out the senior list’s two-kilometre time trial last year in approximately 5:55, so punters would have been heavily invested in him being the last one standing at the final bell. But the form analysts were quick to notice who his running mate was, and that an upset might be on the cards.

As players gradually reached their limit, with Vigo Visentini first to pull up, followed by Hussein El Achkar, Clarke and Nate Caddy were left as the final two. By the end, Caddy was able to push on further, encouraged by everyone at the ground and building on last year’s top-five finish.

An early marker, and hopefully a sign of what’s to come in what will be just his fourth season.

Drills.

Most players were grouped by position, or at least their likely position at this stage of the pre-season, and tasked with working on skills specific to those roles.

New recruit Keidean Coleman was grouped with Zak Johnson, Jaxon Prior and Archer Day-Wicks, with the four instructed to bring the ball in from the boundary and work it into the corridor through short changes of direction.

Isaac Kako and Hussein El Achkar worked on ground balls deep inside the forward pocket, quickly turning both ways and getting the ball to boot while under pressure.

The key backs, including Max Kondogiannis, worked on defending the high ball, while most of the midfield drills centred around handballs in traffic.

Noted.

It’s far too early to presume what the system will look like, but there were a few signs of what I’ll be looking much closer at pre and post Christmas.

It was quite obvious last year from early training sessions and match sims that Essendon would play in straight lines. That is more than likely not going to be the case this time around after seeing plenty of coaching around changing direction and switching to the open side.

Whenever the ball started in a player’s hands between the edge of the centre square and the wing boundary, it was clear that they were being instructed to look inboard for a teammate when entering the launch zone (80 to 60 metres from goal). From there, that player would either go long inside 50 or continue the change of angle towards the far side with another disposal before searching for a target ahead.

The setup and execution around handball drills seemed focused on balance and width, with teammates consistently holding their positions outside congestion and in space to receive and move it on. Let’s hope we see less of ‘dogs chasing the ball’

As a starting point, these two basic training exercises are what I hope will be the beginning of a change in Essendon’s method with the football. There are several other areas I hope to see developed over the coming months.

Number one has to be a defensive zone with layers. Far too little of this was trained for my liking when I was in attendance last year, and when it was, the structure was too easily disorganised. Players weren’t given enough instruction around holding their space on all four sides, and were often dragged out or collapsed in by the opposition’s positioning or running patterns. Nothing had me more concerned heading into Round 1.

More education is needed around timing. That includes knowing when to ask for a handball, rather than calling for it from too far behind the mark, and when to leave the contest to get ahead of the source. Too often, the latter can leave teammates without a viable option or support.

Finally, there needs to be better balance in the air and at ground level between front and back positions, for both defenders and forwards. Too frequently, support defenders are ball-watching or all positioned on one side of the high ball, while multiple tall targets are competing against each other rather than holding dedicated lanes as they lead towards the kicker. That would allow for more one-on-one contests.

It’s only November. There’s plenty of work ahead. Let’s see how it develops from here.

Go Bombers!

A big thank you to track watcher and The Bombers Blog supporter Charlie, who once again provided all the photos. For more photos from today, head to https://x.com/charliedons?s=11&t=L4mpm7shJJYGHL-jgpWWBw

Another big thank you to The Bombers Blog supporter Rick Edwards for providing the video. For more video highlights, another detailed report on today’s session and his 2026 draft analysis ahead of next week’s draft, search for Rick Edwards on Patreon.