IN FOOTBALL terms, Essendon is suddenly a fascinating topic.
The worst of the anti-doping saga is behind the Bombers, who have emerged from a ragged road of debris that resembles a scene from Mad Max.
Scars remain for many and no one in red and black is stupid enough to presume huge challenges don't remain in 2017.
But the football road, at least in comparison to the past four seasons, is relatively open.
No precedent exists for what lies ahead and Essendon coach John Worsfold knows it.
"That is why next year is such a unique year, because we have got no form going into next year," Worsfold said.
His back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests 29 players on the Bombers' list have never played together.
Darcy Parish has never handballed to Jobe Watson in the middle of the MCG after receiving a tap-out from Tom Bellchambers.
It makes predicting the club's best 22 as difficult as it must have been to settle on Australia's Test team when World Series Cricket ended in the early '80s.
As Worsfold said: "Everyone will be waiting to see what Essendon's best 22 is."
Jobe Watson and John Worsfold share a laugh at training. Picture: AFL Photos
The coach has had a stab at it but found it tough to get close to settling on a line-up.
As soon as he moved David Myers, who last played with Essendon in round 20, 2015 (James Hird's final game as coach), he wondered where he should put the magnet of a teammate.
Move Travis Colyer and all of a sudden Orazio Fantasia is in a different position.
The questions, at this stage, are more easily raised than answers are found.
Should Cale Hooker play forward or will James Stewart step up in attack to give the Bombers a backline with Hooker and Michael Hurley as the keys?
When will the premiership window, if one exists anymore, open?
How will the 10 returning players stand up physically and mentally to re-integrating into an elite system?
How much does a year off hurt players?
Can their forward line function well enough to kick winning scores?
Who will the Bombers land at pick No.1?
For long-suffering, yet resilient, Essendon supporters who turned up on Tuesday to an open training session to mark a new beginning, it is wonderful to ponder such questions.
Essendon fans turned out in droves on Tuesday. Picture: AFL Photos
CEO Xavier Campbell, who has ridden the bucking horse throughout, can feel the mood shift.
"[It's] much more about football and being a football club in its purest sense than what it has been for four years," Campbell said.
Now wins and losses might be considered on their merits rather than in the context of what happened in 2012 and the subsequent investigations, penalties and legal battles.
It's what the chairman Lindsay Tanner wants and promises.
"We won't be using the events of the past few years as an excuse," Tanner said.
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On Monday night the 10 returning players, the team's leadership group in 2016 and the coaches got together for dinner, a few laughs and took the chance to relax in each other's company.
Next week, the group will head down to HMAS Cerberus with the six new players who will come on board via the draft, spending time together training and connecting.
They will leave behind a headquarters free of the animosity, the half-disguised taunts, the 'hold-your-ground no-matter-what attitude' that existed before 2016. Essendon is a club that can pop its collective head above the metaphoric parapet once again and look for growth opportunities.
Campbell says the aim is to be top-four in performance on and off the field by the time the 150-year celebrations happen in 2022.
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However, there are still questions to be answered.
How should they address the lingering bitterness some Bomber supporters feel?
Will James Hird be welcomed back into a club that wants to move on? (Every past player is welcome, according to the chairman and CEO)
What will they make of what Stephen Dank says? (They will not be making any public comment)
But they are sideshows to the question Essendon supporters – described by Tanner as the most resilient, hard-nosed supporter base in the country – really care about once again:
Can Essendon play finals in 2017?
"We'd love to play finals. It's going to be tough to achieve," Worsfold said.
"It's all in our hands. [We have] a mature squad and some challenges in terms of settling them and getting them to play footy together. I think we'll play better footy as the year continues to go on."
The sleeves are rolled up, with Campbell insisting they have a truckload of work in front of them.
But nothing, within reason, will be hidden again.
"Everybody is part of the show," Tanner said.
Aaron Francis poses for a photo with a fan at Tuesday's session. Picture: AFL Photos
