Essendon Physical Performance Manager Justin Crow expects players capable of being used in multiple positions to increase in importance in 2016.

With a reduction in interchanges next season, Crow said conditoning programs need to be built towards enabling players to spend longer periods on the ground.

"Players who are able to play in the midfield and then go forward or back and actually play a dual role is going to become more and more important," Crow told SEN.

"Instead of an eight minute block and then rotating on the bench, players that can last maybe 20 minutes on the ground before rotating are going to be highly valuable."

Essendon’s training program is edging closer to match-day intensity.

The entire playing group has been training together for a few weeks, and while some are on monitored training loads, those doing the full program are in for a testing end to 2015.

“We’ve been going for a month with our older guys and six weeks with our first to four years, so we’re starting to get up to training sessions that look a bit more like a match,” Crow said.

“John’s got a clear vision for the Club which we’re all on board with and really excited about. 

“We’ve got a lot of football skills training and a really smart coaching group that is getting really good at integrating our conditioning objectives and our running objectives in to training drills.”

For more on the Christmas open training session click here

With a new interchange cap in 2016, Crow expects players to be a bit slimmer next season. 

“Generally across the AFL players have been getting a bit leaner the last couple of years and part of that is rotations will drop from 120 to 90 this year and players will have to spend longer on the ground,” he said.

“I think the running demands of that require players to carry a little bit less weight.

“But there is also some really good heavy, contested ball players that are really important to teams as well, so that’s the beauty of Australian Rules Football.”

The Bombers have headed abroad for altitude training in recent seasons, but opted to remain in Australia for this pre-season. 

“With a new Coach, the best thing for us has been to be here in Melbourne together and getting that game plan right and adapting to a new Coach,” Crow said.

Advances in technology in recent years have also seen a shift in how the pre-season program is mapped out. 

“It’s changed immensely, it’s only a few years ago we were running more than we were (football) training,” Crow said. 

“The technology has given us the advantage and insight to do that a bit better.

“We can measure very closely what a game involves using GPS and heart rate. 

“We can watch our training drills live and check and cross check that we’re getting match intensity in those drills.”