NEIL Craig came to Essendon knowing the club was in a challenging place. Since he's been there, Craig has learned that the Bombers are up for the fight.
The new head of coaching and strategy at the Bombers might have already had that feeling before he lobbed at Windy Hill in September.
Ahead of joining, he had spoken with coach Mark Thompson over the phone for hours and had been enthused by Thompson's enthusiasm, and Craig also sat in on a board meeting to listen to the club's expectations for season 2014.
He heard what they said, and was more convinced by what he saw.
"You could get a great rationale to suggest why 2014 could be a gap year, if you like. But clearly the Essendon Football Club is not interested in a gap year. So that's been quite exciting for me," Craig told AFL.com.au.
After the dramas of the 2013 season – being investigated by ASADA for its supplements program, kicked out of the finals, fined $2 million, losing draft picks and having key officials, including coach James Hird, suspended – Craig said it was reasonable to ponder what was expected of Essendon next season.
"What are the expectations of the Essendon Football Club having gone through a very traumatic year last year? They've got an interim senior coach, so I think that would be a realistic question for people to ask or think, what does 2014 look like?" he said.
Craig feels the answer to that is positive: having seen a small sample of training and observed attitudes around the club.
The former Adelaide coach arrived at Essendon via two years at Melbourne, where the Demons were under siege for most of two turbulent seasons.
Craig called his time at Melbourne a "great education" in working in an environment under constant scrutiny.
"My advice would be to keep your eye on the ball about where we're going in 2014. There'll continue to be innuendo, dialogue, discussion, and theories for a long period of time, I would suggest," Craig said.
"That's not going to go away in a short period, so the key to that is to keep your focus on exactly what is required for 2014. And that will be the challenge for the Essendon Football Club to continue to do that."
The club's new base at Tullamarine, the True Value Solar Centre, has presented Essendon with a fresh home, and Craig has already seen its worth.
"This facility was a $25 million facility. It's the best facility I've seen in Australia for any team sport. So just at this point in time, facility wise, the Essendon Football Club is sending a very aggressive message to the competition," Craig said.
Craig's initial days at Essendon were spent at Windy Hill before the club shifted full-time to the first-class facility, and he admits the outdated Windy Hill complex took him aback.
"Your admiration goes up even higher of what Essendon has been able to do particularly in the last couple of years. It was a big surprise for me to see an AFL club of the standing of Essendon operate in those sort of conditions," he said.
