IT'S ONLY November, but Scott Gumbleton is looking good.

Selected as a tall target by Essendon at No. 2 in the 2006 NAB AFL Draft, Gumbleton was named at centre half-forward in the under-18 All-Australian side.

The 20-year-old has been plagued by injuries since, meaning five games in 2007 has been his total output for the club.

But coach Matthew Knights is thrilled with the way the West Australian is travelling as the Bombers head into the new pre-season.

"I was really pleased to see Scott Gumbleton complete both the yo-yo test and the beep test," Knights said on Friday.

"He ran a fairly decent time on the beep test, which pleased me greatly, so it's just good to see him with a smile on his face, enjoying his training.

"His beep test yesterday was decent – probably better than decent – and people have said to me that you can't keep talking about him, but why not?

"We took him as pick two in Australia, and we've got high hopes.

"He hasn't had any luck with injury, but we do hope things go his way this year so I can put him out there on the MCG or the Telstra Dome in these big games and he can show what he did.

"You've got to remember, he was taken between Bryce Gibbs (No. 1) and Matthew Leuenberger (No. 4) in the draft, and I think injuries have put a dampener on his career so far, but he's only 20 years old, so he's got a long time to get out there."

With captain Matthew Lloyd and fellow key forward Scott Lucas in the twilight of their careers, the Bombers are looking to Gumbleton and 20-year-old Jay Neagle as pillars around which their future forward line will be built.

"That's part of our planning, our succession planning, and making sure we had big keys coming through the ranks, whether it be key backs or key forwards," Knights said.

"With Jay and Scott, we think that's the future up forward, along with many other boys.

"Down back, we've got Tayte (Pears) and Paddy Ryder and Darcy Daniher, we've got to continue to push those guys through.

"And I'm going to continue to push them through – I'm going to continue to give young players game time, even though I'm in my second year.

"I will continue to push our young players through to make sure they get experience and game time."