Essendon’s first unofficial AFLW hit-out for the season paid dividends on Saturday.

Taking on external opposition for the first time this pre-season, the matchup with Hawthorn at Caulfield Grammar presented an opportunity for the Bombers to experiment with their line-up and test themselves with the season fast approaching.

For Midfield Coach Paul Groves, the match simulation was a big positive for the whole squad, particularly in the case of his clearance mix.

“Our contest and stoppage work was the focus,” Groves said.

“It was really solid and very combative today but it was just great to get against a team we haven’t trained against, the intraclubs has been ‘us against us’, so that part was really refreshing.

“We’ll take a lot out of it and continue to work on our ball use going forward.”

With emerging ruck Steph Wales in good form alongside usual on-ball bulls Maddy Prespakis and Georgia Nanscawen, the Dons also opted for some different looks at their stoppage setups.

Hinted at in the latter stages of last season, the ability of reliable half back Alex Morcom to play a run-with role in the middle added a strong defensive element on Saturday.

“I’m so excited to work with our midfield group,” Groves said.

“Steph Wales coming up against her sister was a really good battle to watch and they’ll debrief on it tonight, we chucked ‘Morcy’ in the middle a little bit to run with Emily Bates to see if that’s something we could do during the season.

“We were experimenting with a lot of different looks today and players in different positions, Bess Keaney was outstanding on the wing as well."

Keeping things direct in the build-up to the club’s third season under Senior Coach Natalie Wood, the Bombers have one more practice match prior to their season opener later this month.

With both the Geelong practice match and the official starter against Fremantle both taking place at Windy Hill, the Dons are also keen to establish their home ground advantage once again in 2024.

“‘Woody’ kept it really simple and stripped it back to just the offence-defence stuff and how we look in all three phases of the game,” Groves said.

“It was an opportunity for the whole squad to play, so it was difficult juggling rotations with so many on the bench but some really good performances today to set the platform for the season.

“We’re pretty pumped for the return to Windy Hill this season, we’ve got a number of games there during the year so that’ll be exciting to play on it and get used to it in prep for round one.

“Hopefully we’ll get a big crowd in and (we) settle on our team as we push for round one.”