ESSENDON midfielder Mark McVeigh has heaped yet more praise on James Hird, declaring the Bombers' new coach has transformed the atmosphere around the club.
McVeigh says the players are not only revelling in their newfound competitiveness on the park, but are also enjoying the efforts being made by Hird off the field.
"It's quite incredible," McVeigh said at Windy Hill on Monday. "James has that ability to bring people together.
"He's a very family-oriented person. On the Saturday night just gone him and his wife Tania had the whole playing group around with kids and family.
"We had a great barbeque together, and just that type of environment creates a really good bond among the players and the wives and girlfriends."
McVeigh says the more upbeat environment at the club has made a big difference to the way the players have gone about their preparations for the home and away season.
"We turn up to training ready to train, happy to be here and ready to play for our footy club," the 30-year-old said.
"James has got a very relaxed approach to AFL footy. He's serious when he needs to be, but you can be yourself around him.
"He is really strong on certain points about being good people, about being good role-models … and I think that just helps build some spirit around the footy club, which maybe had dropped off over the last few years with not much success."
However, McVeigh says he doesn't want to dismiss the efforts of former coach Matthew Knights.
"When 'Knighta' first came in with his coaching group we were really buoyant, and we didn't win as many games as we'd hoped," he said.
"Matthew worked really hard to get us into positions to win football games, it just didn't work out.
"Now James has come in and obviously he's played here and is a legend of the club. I think the players look at him in a different light.
"A lot of young players are in awe of him, along with 'Bomber' [Thompson]. We are very fortunate to have this group of coaches."
While many AFL stars will be running around in the VFL this weekend to gain some match-practice before round one, Essendon is set to give all its players the weekend off.
"It's been a long campaign and a hard campaign over the pre-season, so we thought the best approach was to freshen them up," Bombers football manager Paul Hamilton said.
Scott Gumbleton is one player who didn't see much game-time during the NAB Cup, but he remains in contention to play against the Western Bulldogs in round one.
"He's right to go now," Hamilton said. "He's in full training. We just haven't taken too many risks with him. He's had a bit of soreness and things over the last couple of weeks.
Alwyn Davey, who is recovering from a broken arm, is also pushing his case.
"We're still hopeful with him and certainly our medical staff are saying it's still a possibility," Hamilton explained.
"What happens over the next seven days will determine whether he's right to go and what sort of level of comfort he's got."
However, key defender Tayte Pears is unlikely to return until round four or five. Pears needed surgery to repair his pancreas last year, then suffered a serious foot injury.
"Pears is still a few weeks away I would think," Hamilton said. "Round one is absolutely out of the equation. He'll probably miss more than that as well.
"Don't forget he had his pancreas and then he had his foot problems. Whilst he's doing the running and building up, it's a slow build-up."
Mark McVeigh is a $256,300 midfielder in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition
Alwyn Davey is a $278,700 forward in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition
Scott Gumbleton is a $231,600 forward in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition
Tayte Pears is a $272,800 defender in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition
