ESSENDON coach John Worsfold hopes former Bombers skipper Jobe Watson continues his playing career in 2017 so he can rediscover his love for the game.
The coach said the players suspended over the supplements scandal had been hurt by the experience.
"They can't believe it has got to this point where they have sat out footy for a year," Worsfold told RSN radio on Wednesday.
Worsfold said he would catch up with the 31-year-old Brownlow medallist in the next week or so to get a sense of how he was thinking.
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"We know the passion he has for the game, but that has been challenged," Worsfold said.
Watson played 200 games and won three best and fairest awards before receiving a season-long ban.
The players can officially return to the club in the middle of September to train but the ban does not end until mid-November.
Worsfold said he would love Watson to play on and assist him to enjoy football once again.
"I would love to have Jobe to remember how much he loves the game," Worsfold said.
Watson's father, club legend Tim Watson, told SEN radio he had not spoken to his son for a while about his future but said Jobe has "to eventually make a decision and that is sooner rather than later I would think".
Worsfold said there was a good chance James Kelly would play on, but the Bombers were waiting for "the dust to settle" before a final decision was made.
The coach said he did not want the ex-Cats veteran – who joined the club as a top-up player and finished equal runner-up in the club best and fairest – to continue on if there was not a senior spot for him.
Of the 12 suspended Bombers, nine will return to the club: Cale Hooker, Dyson Heppell, Michael Hurley, David Myers, Travis Colyer, Brent Stanton, Ben Howlett, Heath Hocking and Tom Bellchambers.
Michael Hibberd wants to continue his career elsewhere, while Watson and Tayte Pears have not indicated their futures.