John Worsfold isn’t surprised by rival interest in Michael Hurley and the Bombers Coach remains confident of retaining the All-Australian defender.
Western Bulldogs Coach Luke Beveridge said yesterday his club would be keen to throw its hat in the ring should Hurley want a move away from the Bombers.
Worsfold said players of Hurley’s quality naturally spark interest among opposition clubs.
"I would expect that it wouldn't just be the Western Bulldogs who are interested in Michael Hurley,” he said.
“If it is just the Bulldogs that's a bonus, but I would expect there's plenty more clubs who would have plenty of interest because he's a star player.
"But I'm really confident that he'll be playing for Essendon."
Essendon has already secured fellow All-Australians Dyson Heppell and Cale Hooker, as well as midfielder Heath Hocking, Travis Colyer and David Myers, and ruckman Tom Bellchambers.
Those inclusions have Worsfold excited about the side’s 2017 prospects.
“We’ll definitely to improve. To what level and where you finish next year, I’m excited to wait and see,” he said.
“Our squad will be a much stronger squad next year, that’s a given.
“Our aim then is to make our performances match the ability of our squad.
“This has been an extremely tough year in a lot of ways but it’s also been a really exciting year.
“I think a lot of the things we’ve put in place for the whole Club going forward are going to bear fruit fairly quickly and put the Club back up there in terms of its standing in the game very quickly.”
The Bombers enter the final month of the season with one win and games against Geelong, Gold Coast, Western Bulldogs and Carlton ahead.
Worsfold said he has seen players develop throughout the year and he’s looking forward to them getting more reward for their effort next season.
“We’ve got a great group of players, I’ve seen them grow so much this year as they’ve come to understand what I’m about and what we’re trying to put in place,” Worsfold said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing a lot more regular smiles on their faces next year, more so post-game.
“Generally we’re happy and working hard during the week, we all get a bit disappointed on game day, but we’ll be a lot happier next year.”
