After a six-month wait, Essendon’s AFLW squad have hit the ground running in their pre-season return.

As the side enters its third pre-season under Senior Coach Natalie Wood, the rapport between the familiar faces continues to thrive, while the new acquisitions within the program are also integrating well.

With two months of work awaiting the Bombers before the season officially starts, the added time for preparation this year has Wood excited for the season that lies ahead.

“It’s fantastic to get to the start of June and get all 30 players in,” Wood said.

“It’s obviously been a long off-season, a lot of thinking and planning goes ahead and waiting to what 2024 looks like, so it’s terrific to have all the players in the door and getting started.”

Bolstered in the off-season by exciting young draftees such as Amy Gaylor and the experience of veterans Maddi Gay and Bess Keaney, the new recruits have not only bought into the pre-season grind but helped set the standard themselves.

Outside of Brooke Sheridan’s inclusion as a replacement player for retiree Cat Phillips, the Bombers had finalised the majority of its 2024 list by mid-December last year, giving ample time for the incoming players to familiarise themselves with their new teammates.

With the growing relationships in the playing group starting to transition onto the track, the Dons have returned to pre-season with plenty of vigour.

“It’s one of the benefits of list management happening at the end of last year, that all those players have been able to start training with the group,” Wood said.

“They’ve been training with us on-and-off and in small groups with their teammates, getting to know them and a little bit of the language. The draftees have really hit the ground running, absorbing everything we’re helping them to understand as athletes and their fitness and game have really grown in this short time.

“(Maddi and Bess) come in with lived experiences in other clubs that we’re then able to draw upon as well, bringing their expertise in and their guidance with the group, whilst also looking how to better their game.”

Riding an off-season wave filled with several long-term signings, the playing group are reaping the benefits of the league’s new CBA deal, with four players now signed until at least the end of 2027.

The intent and commitment of the squad has been apparent for Wood, who’s excited to see how they can build from last season’s inaugural AFLW Finals appearance and continue the upwards trajectory seen in their two seasons as a collective.

“(The new CBA is) a terrific sign of how the competition’s growing and the players are starting to get really recognised for the work they do,” Wood said.

“The players have really embraced that and worked really diligently over the break, there’s a real sense of maturity that they’ve known when they’ve needed to have a break to get away from the rigours of being an athlete, but at the same time when they’ve had the capacity, they’ve been really purposeful.

“For a team only having played two years together, we’ve relied on a lot of intent, a lot of natural intuition, but now we get to drill into the detail and really understand our contest, attack and defence (methods) even more.

“So many players are coming back to represent the club for a third year have really come along in leaps and bounds.”

The 2023 campaign was an important step forward not only for the Dons on-field, but for Wood as a Senior Coach, continuing to build strong connections with the players and people on deck.

With former Bulldogs AFLW Premiership Coach Paul Groves and current Essendon VWFL Senior Coach Cherie O’Neill joining returning faces in Bernard Shepheard and Tash Hardy on the coaching panel, Wood’s also enjoying their influence this pre-season.

“To have some continuity within our coaching staff from year-to-year’s been fantastic,” Wood said.

“It’s terrific to get Paul Groves in, he’s been coaching a lot in the last few years and he’s excited to be back at the elite level around AFLW. (There’s a) level of confidence that he brings in but also a sense of curiosity, trying to understand where the game’s grown in the time he’s been away.

“Bernard Shepheard’s stepped up as an assistant and Tash Hardy continues on with her third year which is excellent. Cherie’s done a terrific job in our VFLW program and she’ll bring a lot of nurturing and strong relationships with our young group.

“As relationships and connections are growing, (I’m) really finding that line with the players between being able to switch in (to focus) and when to relax and connect, have a laugh. It’s a great honour to do this for the third year in a row.

“It’s an absolute privilege to coach this group, I don’t take that lightly.”

The pre-season’s start has coincided in timely fashion with the 2024 fixture release, showing some exciting challenges ahead for the Dons.

With an inaugural Dreamtime in Darwin clash and a run of three games in nine days around the season’s halfway mark, Wood and the wider program are well aware of the work that needs to be done, especially off the back of their learnings from last season.

“What our group was really able to take away is that if we work hard, get our connection better and drill into some of the details, we can stay in games longer and create better method with what we’re doing,” Wood said.

“It’s been great to see how the players are engaging in that but how they’re questioning it too, you can really judge players and their investment on how curious they are, not just taking information on and saying ‘yes, yes, yes’.

“This is probably the earliest we’ve had the fixture, what it’s done is show the players we’ve got a lot of games in a short period of time, a lot of travel but we’ve got a lot of big games that we hopefully (showcase) really well.

“It’s going to be an exciting ride with highs and lows within those 10 weeks, but the more we do the work now and pay attention to detail, hopefully that puts us in good stead.”