Wednesday 3rd December & Friday 5th December

Suns out, guns out.

There aren’t many training sessions left before the Christmas break, so with another opportunity available, I once again head down to the Hangar to gather some information on what we may expect in 2026 and the areas I’m personally hoping to see develop

Some have concerns about the Essendon training base, specifically the surface and its possible contribution to injuries over time (I don’t have a strong opinion either way, though I understand the desire to scrutinise every aspect of training).

For me, it’s the ground’s location and openness that present the biggest challenge, with the wind a major factor making it difficult to execute basic skills, especially timing leaps in marking contests, which rely on judging the ball’s flight, and precision kicking to hit moving targets. Thankfully, this wasn’t an issue on either of the two days.

A large crowd slowly built for a snap-and-sign opportunity on Wednesday, with fans able to get close to their favourite players at the end of the one-hour session. It was a much more relaxed hit-out, with far less running on a hot summer afternoon.

But come Friday, under similar conditions, the fitness staff returned the squad to what has been the norm so far, with intense running to different points on the ground to simulate heading to the bench between their usual split training groups.

Who’s here, who’s not.

Harrison Jones has still not appeared on the oval at any stage, while Archie Perkins put the boots on for the first time on Wednesday. He warmed up and took part in some early kicking drills but did no further work that day or on Friday.

There was a noticeable contrast in Jordan Ridley’s running speed compared to the last time I saw him. He jogged the boundary for about 45 minutes on Wednesday and slightly increased that for the 90 minutes the group was out there Friday.

Kyle Langford had the boots on and completed the warm-up run-throughs on Wednesday, then stepped away at times to jog alongside Rids. Unlike him, Langford joined in later as a leading forward target for his teammates and followed a similar schedule on Friday. At this stage, he doesn’t appear as restricted as Ridley.

Nate Caddy would have been in high demand for photos at the snap and sign, so he absolutely needed to be out there, but only walked the boundary in runners after warming up. Two days later he completed a lot more work.

All the draftees bar Sullivan Robey were involved on both days, with the latest Category B signing, Cillian Bourke, getting his first taste of an Australian summer’s day.

His first session included all the warm-up work and drills until right at the end, when he stepped aside to focus on kicking technique with David Rath, with the coaching centred around kicking on the run.

The Irishman is very left-sided by foot at this stage, with an action similar to many of his countrymen before him, almost placing the ball on his foot by hand for greater control.

Noted.

Of all the first- and second-year players, Angus Clarke is the one doing the most work on his kicking technique.

His first season showed real inconsistency in hitting targets, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed upstairs, with coaches regularly beside him going over his action and working on his non-dominant side — which, I have to say, still has a long way to go.

As 2025 went on, Saad El Hawli spent more time learning as a defender in the VFL, with his late-season recall offering a chance to see what he’d worked on. This preseason has been a continuation, with him starting most simulations and mini match sims behind the ball.

Most coaches are urging him to stay active to generate run, while also testing his decision making deep in defence. It’s hard to miss the appeal he brings with his turn of foot once he’s on the end of a handball receive.

Standouts.

Not since his debut year in 2019, as an 18-year-old turning 19, had Xavier Duursma played more than 20 games in a season until his 22 this year.

With a stronger fitness base and clearly much more confidence in his body, he has been one of the hardest runners on the track, consistently pushing himself in warm-ups and throughout full-ground sessions.

While others finish up and cool down with goal-kicking, he steps aside with one or two coaches and continues working on his touch and reactions by hand.

This is easily the best I’ve seen him look and train at Essendon.

Drills.

One of the main features at any of my attendances has been around teaching the players to better exploit the stand rule, which has had a slight tweak heading into 2026.

When teammates are hit up by foot, they’re instructed to hold and wait for the umpire (on previous days, the coaches were calling it, but umpires were in attendance on Friday) to blow the whistle and call “stand” before they start to move, or if they’re going to feed teammates running on from behind.

The two main advantages of this are forcing the opposition to effectively play with one less in their rolling defensive zone, while simultaneously training teammates to time their overlap runs so they can receive the ball once past the man standing the mark.

It’s good to see coaches focusing on how to manipulate new rules, not only to be prepared, but hopefully a step ahead of the competition.

On Wednesday, the first- and second-year players focused on learning to “protect” the ball when being tackled.

When a tackler comes in from the side, they’re instructed to hold the ball further from their line, denying the chance of it being knocked out while also absorbing the pressure, rather than disposing of it immediately and making it “live” again.

On Friday, this was further developed by teaching the youngsters to get both arms free and rise over the tackler, allowing them to assess available teammates to give off by hand.

First sign of change?

At my first two sessions, almost two weeks ago, I had an inkling of what might be a shift in ball movement plans and the system to best exploit it. Without full-ground match simulations to confirm, I decided to wait until I could gather more information.

I’d detailed a host of issues and changes required in my end-of-season review on Essendon’s 2025 transition here, going into detail on speed in turning a possession into a disposal and territory gained from each disposal. After seeing four sessions, there now appears to be a mindset change with ball in hand.

Multiple drills have focused on speeding up decision-making, with assistant coaches counting down from two to force players to get rid of the ball quickly, mainly via kicks. This was evident in my first two sessions and has continued to be a priority in subsequent vision.

The shift will demand teammates ahead of the ball to be far more switched on, active, presenting, and anticipating options earlier. One of the flow-on effects is that opponents won’t be given the time or luxury to read what’s coming.

It’s a welcome development, especially if Essendon intends to rely more on going short by foot, though the early signs suggest the default mode may be heading in a different direction.

Going long.

I’m still not completely locked in on this, given how early it is in the 2026 build, but after another session on the sidelines, the next evolution under Brad Scott appears increasingly likely: going longer and more direct by foot.

If this becomes the preferred method, it will demand a reliable, consistent forward structure with even numbers ahead of the ball so teammates further up the ground have a constant reference point to target, knowing they will get a contest and, at worst, bring the ball to ground, with support then making its way to hopefully outnumber at the drop.

With this comes a style that is a little more chaos based compared to the very controlled approach Essendon has adopted with limited success over the previous three seasons.

For reference, teams who have used something similar with success include Adelaide and Gold Coast this season, Geelong and Port Adelaide in previous years, and Richmond throughout their dominant premiership run. A quick footnote though: this does not guarantee success on its own, as there are many elements to this style, particularly player capabilities.

One on the wish list.

I wrote a long list of what I was hoping to see over this preseason, some of which I have yet to witness, either live at the ground or through videos shared by some fantastic contributors online. Below was one of my more important, and thankfully I can say it looked to be practiced and trained on Wednesday. Here, I’ll detail what I was hoping to see, why, and how they went about it.

Running has been a major focus of the preseason so far (as it should be), and with the likely adjustment to next year in mind, I’d like to see set-ups that test players’ capacity to spread and sprint in multiple pairs, getting from one contest to the next at the feet of taller forwards. This shows work rate and turn of foot both offensively and defensively, and also highlights ground-ball ability, which will be equally important.

On Wednesday towards the end of training, nine players, five versus four, mainly small to medium forwards and defenders, matched up against each other with the directive being around sprinting to get to the drop of the ball ahead.

Here, the extra looked to be the defensive winger, with the forwards required to either win the ball or, at worst, keep it in the area, while the defenders not only needed to deny their matchup, either by “checking” their run, but also combine with that extra to take the ball the other way.

If the game plan change is to be implemented as I outlined earlier, this drill is a vital piece that should be repeated throughout the preseason.

Go Bombers!