Essendon Coach John Worsfold has lauded an "amazing effort" by his reconstituted team to defeat Hawthorn by 25 points in their season-opener at the MCG on Saturday night.

Worsfold agreed the occasion was "up there" with the most emotional moments in his time in football after the Bombers played with renewed flair and freedom following the return of several players.

"It was a pretty special night – for us internally, with the players and the coaches and how hard we've worked over the past 18 months, but emotional for the fans," Worsfold told reporters at a post-match press conference.

"To have 60,000 members signed before the season started is enormous for what the club's been through, and that's probably the thing that's holding the club strong at the moment.

"It was phenomenal, spine-tingling stuff by our members and supporters … and I think they go home with big smiles on their faces."

With many Bombers playing their first AFL games as teammates, Worsfold believes his team will only improve with further familiarity.

"We're going to build on that. This group are going to build a lot more chemistry and understanding, which will mean they'll keep getting better if they're prepared to work hard," he said. 

"We're not trying to keep a lid on anything other than the way we want to play. We've done it pretty well tonight and we're accountable to try to match that week in, week out and get better."

The Dons coach was particularly pleased with his team's resilience to stick to the task after rattling on the first three goals, only to surrender a 13-point lead in the third term, before piling on eight of the next nine goals.

"That middle 30 or 40-minute period was tough and Hawthorn got the ascendancy … but they never got too far from us, and they had to work really hard for their opportunities," he said.

"Our boys just kept coming at them, which was great, and then to work back into the lead and run away with that was awesome."

Despite the Bombers having six players who hadn't played since 2015, they surprised many by running the Hawks off their legs. In the process, they made Alistair Clarkson's team appear slow.

"It has been a focus to build (pace) into the squad," Worsfold said, citing the recruitment of No.1 draft pick Andrew McGrath, Darcy Parish, ex-Lion Josh Green and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, and the return of Travis Colyer, as examples of the club's search for speedsters.

Over the pre-season there had been concern about whether the Bombers would conjure enough goals, but an attack featuring exciting opportunist Orazio Fantasia (four goals), Joe Daniher (three) and Cale Hooker (three) proved extremely potent.

Hooker's performance came after playing just one VFL practice game as preparation after overcoming a hamstring injury.

"A big part of it is getting it in there, and we did that tonight," Worsfold said.

"We've been building a forward line, so it's a credit to everyone.

"And obviously Cale Hooker is just going to keep getting better. He's a novice forward, really."