Brad Scott is taking a grounded approach into his second pre-season as Essendon Senior Coach.

Amid a Summer headlined by new acquisitions both on-field and off, Scott is ensuring the Bombers’ process remains goal-driven and focused on improvements within their control.

Speaking at the club’s inaugural Member Fest on Saturday morning, Scott said improving in the mental aspect of the game has also been at the forefront of their pre-season preparation.

“Physically these guys are working extremely hard, but we’re working equally as hard on the mental side of the game. The main thing for us has been getting the players prepared to perform when it really counts,” Scott said.

“We’ve had a really strong focus on all parts of our game, we’ve (also) got some really important new staff members that have come into our football program.

“David Rath is someone I’ve known for a long time and he’s in a coaching innovation role helping with strategy and review, he’s been a fantastic acquisition.”

The Bombers’ enjoyed a busy player movement period with the signing of Xavier Duursma, Todd Goldstein, Ben McKay and Jade Gresham.

After welcoming in a host of players who’ll be key to Essendon’s push up the ladder in 2024, a focus for the club has been integrating its new recruits into a squad burgeoning with team chemistry.

For Scott, this process has been welcomed with open arms.

“It does take time to build synergy and connection with new players. We’ve brought players in that fill needs for us and are very good, but gelling with the rest of the team is a real challenge that we’ve seen throughout the competition,” Scott said.

“We’re working really hard on making sure that the players spend as much time together (as possible) with players who play in their part of the ground.

“On the flipside, Ben McKay can make Peter Wright an even better player (for example). I’m looking forward to some competitive one-on-one drills with our number one key forward against a big, strong key back.”

Scott revealed he’s also open to moving the magnets around next season, with the club utilising this pre-season to trial positional changes and tweaks to its lineup.

With strong competition looming for spots, Scott is excited to see how his players step up to fill the gaps.

“We’re working through (position shifts) constantly. We didn’t have access to it this time last year,” Scott said.

“When you look at our back half with the acquisition of McKay and hopefully getting ‘Reidy’ (Zach Reid) back, there’s some really good competition for spots and if our team’s going well, we’ll have a really strong VFL team.

“We’ll look to support Andy (McGrath) and Mason Redman a little bit more with some bounce out of our back half. I can’t divulge anything at this stage but we’re certainly looking at some options. There’ll be no secrets come intra-club time.”

While the Dons are honing in on specific areas for improvement, Scott isn’t losing sight of his vision for the club holistically.

“Underpinning everything we do, it’s to make (members’) lives as enjoyable as possible. When you go to the MCG or Marvel Stadium to watch us play, you can be really proud of your football club again. That drives everything that we do,” Scott said.

“We have a really strong vision for the overall football club, but we really focus on our goals with the actions and behaviours that we need to achieve it. There are 17 other teams that want the same thing, so we focus strongly on what is absolutely in our control and we break it down into tiny little segments.

“I’m not in the prediction business, I’m in the action business. In the long run, that’ll make our members much happier.”