Essendon players have welcomed a stronger direction under new senior coach Brad Scott as they enter the 2023 season.

The Bombers have experienced plenty of change during the off-season, with new coaching and Board appointments made to help take the club to greater heights in the new year.

Archie Perkins discussed talk of a particularly demanding pre-season but said Scott was setting much-needed high standards.

"He's made sure that everyone's in the mindset that we're ready to get here and get stuck in and work hard," Perkins told reporters on Monday.

"He's going to drive some really strong standards, which I think we need as a group. Everyone's ready for that. That's what we need as a group, to be honest.”

"At times, we might have felt we weren't sure what direction we were heading in. But now, Brad's been really clear that it's going to be a lot of focus on development and it's going to be a really strong pathway to follow."

Only first-to-fourth-year players were required at Monday's training but most senior Bombers were on hand, including Dyson Heppell, Zach Merrett, Andrew McGrath, Darcy Parish and Jake Stringer.

"You always want to start well, but I don't think we're going to have the mentality of going out there to prove people wrong," Perkins said.

"We're going to get out there and train hard this pre-season and then get what we deserve.”

"There's a big turnout here and there's been a big turnout at some trainings for the last month.”

"With the new coach and all the change, a lot of the senior boys have been keen to get stuck in."

Recruits Sam Weideman and Will Setterfield were joined by Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti who returned to the club for 2023.