ESSENDON key forward Peter Wright will miss at least round one after dislocating his shoulder on Friday.
The Bombers' reigning best and fairest and leading goalkicker winner went down with the injury and is undergoing further assessment, but has been ruled out of Sunday's clash with Hawthorn. The club will take a conservative approach to his recovery with a return to the field yet to be established.
Wright left training with the help of Essendon's medical team on Friday morning after a contest with his absence a blow for the Bombers on the eve of the season. It also comes after the Bombers had announced they had signed Wright to a new four-year contract and leaves new recruit Sam Weideman and youngster Harrison Jones as their leading tall forward options.
The Bombers start their era under coach Brad Scott on Sunday against the Hawks at the MCG, and will be there without star forward Jake Stringer as well. Stringer has been cleared medically from his hamstring injury but the Bombers are taking a cautious approach with the dynamic goalkicker, in line with their aim to build a sustainable approach this season.
SLIDING DOORS IF Brad Scott thought his last club was a rabble THEN...
"We've got some capability in our team and our intention's very clear – we're going out to win every game we play. Within the backdrop of finding our best mix and exposing different guys at different times. But one thing we won't do is sacrifice our long-term journey that we're on for any short-term sugar hits. That's clear at selection," Scott said earlier on Friday.
"We've got guys who are available and are really good players but for one reason or another they're not cherry ripe and ready to go.
"Potentially on personnel we could bring some really good players into the team who are available but they're not ready to go, so we're not going to compromise that and try and have little sugar hits here and there at the expense of what we're trying to do long term."
The Bombers enter the season after a pre-season that saw them beat Gold Coast in a practice game and then produce an underwhelming loss to St Kilda the following week. Scott admitted to some natural "trepidation" as he settled back into the coach's seat for the first time since he departed North Melbourne in 2019.
"I think everyone, regardless of how experienced you are, has some trepidation heading into round one. There's all the training, all the hard work, all the practice games and match simulations that you do all count for nothing now so it's a matter of getting out and testing yourself. There's always that sense of the unknown – both from the opposition's perspective but also what we can produce," he said.
Meanwhile, Scott has backed new chief executive Craig Vozzo to work through reporting lines at the club amid tension between football boss Josh Mahoney and long-time list manager Adrian Dodoro. Scott said stability was important for the Bombers given the level of change there has been at the club.
"Clearly the club has been through some pretty unstable times. We are searching for stability and I think that's really important. I wouldn't be standing here as coach right now if everything was perfect. It fits into what we've been saying that we certainly need to shift some things culturally and we need to improve," he said.
"The reality is we sit a long way off the best teams right at the moment but that's why change has been made and we've got a lot of work to do to bring that stability that Essendon's craved for a long time."
GETTABLE Your weekly trade and draft fix, starting in 2023
Scott said it hadn't interrupted Essendon's preparations for the season-opener against the Hawks.
"We need to get better as a football club and we can't do that until we have stability so in that sense there's some frustration but Craig Vozzo is our CEO and he's come in new and wants to have a good look, which is the right way to do it," Scott said.
"He's not going to make any snap decisions – he's going to come in and assess our club and make necessary changes in due course."