THERE has been a consistent message emerging from Essendon since the end of last season. The club's chairman Lindsay Tanner and chief executive Xavier Campbell have pushed it, as has last year's stand-in skipper Brendon Goddard.
The Bombers are regaining 10 of their most senior and experienced players after serving anti-doping bans, but the club has been very careful to temper expectations around the team's performance in 2017. Unknowns, as they have for the previous four years, continue to circle the club.
These are a little different than before, though. How will the returning Bombers' fare with soft-tissue injuries? Will they have the same hunger as before? How can the club bring back so many players at once after a year out? Can they jell with the players who broke onto the scene last season?
The answers to those questions must wait. But coach John Worsfold knows at least one thing, and that is despite the Bombers' warnings to fans to manage their hopes for the upcoming season, nothing is beyond reach.
"Anything is possible. Absolutely," Worsfold told AFL.com.au. "We're not a club coming off a wooden spoon that is the youngest team in the competition.
"That raises 17 possibilities above 18th spot, with 18th spot always a possibility if we're saying anything is. We should be … aiming for the highest spot possible."
This pre-season has still had its different challenges for the Bombers in comparison to the rest of the competition. Reintegrating a quarter of the list is a tough task, and they have also had to deal with Jobe Watson forfeiting his 2012 Brownlow Medal, which was another brutal chapter in the disastrous supplements saga.
The Watson situation made for some dark days – "We went through a flat spot there," Worsfold said – but spirits have since lifted. Worsfold wants Essendon to be successful as soon as possible, but has also urged supporters to recognise the smaller wins this year as well.
"It's really tough to predict how it's going to go. We're saying [to fans to] come along and really enjoy Jobe Watson running out for Essendon with a smile on his face," he said.
"And to see Cale Hooker, who was a free agent, and out of any free agent in the history of the game had an easy opportunity and reason to not commit … come and celebrate his loyalty.
"We want to win and stand up and sing the song at the end of the game, but there's a lot more substance to what Essendon is going to bring this year."
The JLT Community Series will give an early indication of what the Bombers of 2017 might look like. Worsfold is planning to play a reasonably strong line-up in each of the club's spread-out contests, with "about 30" names in his mix for their first home and away game against Hawthorn on March 25.
There are some things that are already in the works. Worsfold wants to add some pace and zip to his line-up, and has trialled a forward line featuring Orazio Fantasia and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, two of the real gains of 2016, plus the returning Travis Colyer and new recruit Josh Green. It's small, but would be energetic and dangerous.
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti is likely to play forward this season. Picture: AFL Photos
He needs his team to score more, and is confident Hooker's summer training as a forward will enable him to partner well with Joe Daniher. Daniher has had an interrupted pre-season, but Worsfold said a return of more than 50 goals would be "wonderful" after 43 in the bottom team last year.
"Joe's got the potential to be up there with the leading goalkickers in the game. Whether that's this year or next year, it will happen," he said.
Worsfold wants his group to be versatile. David Myers might be used in the middle, perhaps off half-back, and maybe at times closer to goal. Brent Stanton has spent time training as a half-back, and Watson will rest near goal, a back-to-the-future move for the three-time best and fairest who started his career as a deep forward. He also thinks he can play ruck pair Matthew Leuenberger and Tom Bellchambers in the same team if both are fit and available.
The 2006 West Coast premiership coach knows his second season in charge of the Bombers will need to have an eye on the future. He wants to pump more games into Darcy Parish after an outstanding debut season, and is conscious of Zach Merrett again spending a significant amount of time in a prominent midfield role as he did last year on his way to the Crichton Medal.
Andy McGrath, the club's No.1 draft pick, will get his chance when ready, and Aaron Francis, a top-10 choice the previous year, is gradually improving his fitness to be able to compete at the top level. He is training as a marking forward.
"Aaron's a super talent, but he's also not going to win our time trials. We're going to pick him to be explosive and show his ball skills and be that big-bodied forward or back player who can intercept mark," he said.
"It's hard to pick how many games he'll play this year – it'll be based on form, fitness and a bigger-picture guide."
The Bombers are difficult to pick, full stop. Worsfold acknowledges that without the WADA-imposed bans to players last year, the squad would be primed for a tilt at the top four. They have match-winners, All Australians, and a promising group of young talent. Now it's a matter of seeing how they blend.
"If Jobe and Dyson and Hooker and Hurley had now played consistently 50 games in a row with Zach Merrett, and Marty Gleeson and Joe Daniher, then you'd be saying this team know each other inside out," Worsfold said.
"They've got that high-end experience and the younger players are moving into that area where they're going to be good impact players as well. That's not the case for us. The squad looks like it is, but we've got to rebuild that real chemistry amongst them.
"We'll be evolving our understanding of each other as we start to play more footy together. That's exciting in a way. Some teams will go into round one with a very strong idea about roles for every player and their team structure, but we're quite open that we're going to be exploring several things throughout the course of the year."
