With the practice matches done and dusted, Assistant Coach Daniel Giansiracusa believes there’s been a lot to take away for Essendon’s young group ahead of its round one matchup with Hawthorn.
The Bombers’ backline coach understands that the journey has just begun for the talented yet inexperienced cohort ahead of his third season as an assistant coach.
Both practice games were pivotal to helping the entire squad understand what needs to happen next.
“We are a young group that is excited to get better,” Giansiracusa said.
“Both matches had tough conditions with the wind, we did see some good signs in both games.”
“Against the Saints we didn’t win the contest enough which is something we will be looking to rectify.”
With round one not far away, Giansiracusa is eager to see the club’s young playing group grow after heavily investing in development over the off-season.
New structure and tactics also mean the group is still adjusting, trying to make the fresh gameplan habitual in nature.
“It’s different, obviously when a new coach comes in you are trying to implement new strategies and tactics,” Giansiracusa said.
“We are one of the youngest groups in the comp, but ultimately, we want to see improvement across the whole group.
“We have put a strong emphasis into strengthening up our development program.
“We want to win every game of course, but that improvement both individually and as a group is what we want to see.”
Newly appointed skipper, Zach Merrett has been setting the tone for the group, closely followed by some of the younger members of the group.
“Zach Merrett has really set the tone, especially from a defensive element,” he said.
“People like Sam Durham and Nic Martin, they’ve only been in our footy club for like 18 months and they’re showing great improvement as well.”
Supporters will also be eager to see Alwyn Davey Jr. make his debut soon as the young forward pushes his case for round one.
“He runs a lot, he gets up and down the ground, he is an excitement machine,” Giansiracusa said.
