The more roles you can play, the better.

Ben Jacobs and Essendon’s wider coaching group have made that idea abundantly clear with how they’ve reshuffled their players in different positions this season, with many on the list enjoying career-best campaigns.

The Bombers’ flexibility shone through in Saturday’s 20-point win over the Giants, highlighted by season-best games from Nick Hind and Jake Kelly, who’ve rotated between defence and the wing over the opening nine rounds.

As Defence Coach, Jacobs is thrilled with how not only his back six are buying into the team’s structure, but the support of those up the ground as well.

“The key word is ‘team’ defence,” Jacobs said.

“The older players like Darcy Parish are doing (a mountain of work) learning new roles to fit the system. Nick Hind comes in and plays on the wing, plays half back, having those dual roles and understanding that is why we can get results like this tonight.

“(GWS have) got some genuine talent that everyone knows, so to be able to beat them with a bit of our process was great. It’s something that we’ve worked on for a couple of years now and it’s coming together nicely.”

While Jacobs’ focus is directed towards his defenders on gameday, it’d be wrong to overlook the work of skipper Zach Merrett, who continues to take an unselfish approach to organising his team behind the footy.

Merrett’s leadership is having a flow-on effect within the group, who are growing in confidence around the team’s system – notably Nic Martin, who’s showing inspired form as an attacking defender.

“I’m always looking behind the ball with the backs, but I love how (Merrett) sets us up – it’s never about Zach,” Jacobs said.

“I look at the stat sheet sometimes and I’m like ‘where does he have the time to do that’, because he’s always helping us set up our defence structurally, he’s so selfless.

“When you’ve got a skipper like that, it really does flow and bleed into everyone else, which is so impressive, but really any rewards he gets, he deserves because he’s an amazing player and human.

“Everyone’s buying in, that’s the biggest thing. Everyone’s understanding the game, different states, players like Nic Martin back there, everyone sees him with the ball, but he’s just as good at directing.”

Another standout for the Dons has been Ben McKay, whose presence on the last line has given his fellow defenders a reason to feel safe, even in dangerous circumstances.

Finding a nice balance between playing things safe in a lockdown role and being aggressive in the air, McKay’s seamless integration into the defence in such a short span of time has impressed Jacobs.

“The first thing is the characters back there are great, he really feels at home with the likes of McGrath and these guys who are great people,” Jacobs said.

“His one-on-one ability just gives us a chance, he’s playing confident, he’s getting his balance right to play in front, playing assertive. The boys get a lift when he comes forward and marks it.

“He’s finding a real trust in his teammates, so he’s just flourishing at the club.”

With Zach Reid and Jordan Ridley recovering from injury and eyeing off returns to senior level in the coming weeks, selection headaches loom in a defensive setup that sits fourth in the competition for points conceded in the last month.

While Jacobs is inviting the competition for spots, the system-first approach means there’ll be no rush to make changes straight away, not just from a defensive standpoint.

“Even losing Xavier Duursma - obviously he’s so important in the way he’s been getting out and helping our defence – it just shows it’s ‘next man up’ and ‘squad’ mentality,” Jacobs said.

“I thought Jayden Laverde was great tonight, Mason Redman plays a bit deeper, Hind’s there, these guys are pulling their weight.

“We’ll make sure that Ridley and Reid are back at their best and that’s the luxury we have, it’s not like we need them to come back straight away.

“It’s ‘let’s get you through some main sessions, get you feeling good playing and we’ll go from there’, instead of ‘we need you back because we’re battling back there’.”

“Hopefully they (think) ‘s***, I’m going to feel supported’. Ben McKay during pre-season was loving playing with those two especially, so that’s just another connection I’m looking forward to seeing.”

Strong performances against talented sides in the Bulldogs, Collingwood and GWS have seen the Bombers take 10 of a possible 12 points from those fixtures, showing their improvement from the end of last season where they lost their three games against those sides by a combined 237 points.

For Jacobs and the Bombers, it’s all about continuing to trust each other and the plan they’re executing in the middle of a long season.

“(It was good) to come out against Collingwood and the Giants, who showed us what finals footy looks like in those last two rounds (last year) and show our brand stacks up," Jacobs said.

“We’ve got to earn that trust with each other still, I know results are easy to look at, but we’re still trying to believe in what we’re doing as a collective in terms of our game plan.

“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we’ve got to still earn trust in ourselves.”