Essendon’s early block of pre-season training will feel even more official this week, with seven new draftees among the full squad set to return on Monday.
While Zak Johnson, Isaac Kako and rookie Jayden Nguyen were into the action last Friday, this week sees the Dons’ regional and interstate draftees such as Kayle Gerreyn and Angus Clarke begin their tenure in Tullamarine.
Assistant Coach Cam Roberts is excited to have a bunch of new faces on board, highlighting the kick of energy it provides at this time of year.
“It's awesome, they give a real bounce to the place,” Roberts said.
“They’re obviously really talented kids and some of them have been part of our NGA program, which helps. Even Zak Johnson who got drafted went to school with Isaac (Kako) and Nate Caddy, so having a familiar face helps.
“We’ll get the rest of the boys in on Monday which will add some excitement to the place.”
Although he’s been in development roles at the club over the past five years, Roberts also comes into this pre-season fresh as a newly appointed Forwards Coach – a role he filled in for in stints during 2023.
Having strong connections with the playing group from his former position as Head of Development, Roberts is looking forward to expanding his impact into a new role.
“Early days, but (I’m) enjoying it so far,” Roberts said.
“I’m really new in the position and formally in the last two weeks, but I’m really enjoying it, watching a lot of vision over last season and sitting down with a few of the players over the course of the last couple of weeks.
“I’ve loved my time in development and still have that lens in my coaching now in this role but I think going into my sixth season, I’ve been able to form some really good relationships with those guys, so I don’t feel like I’m necessarily starting from scratch.
“That’s a real benefit for me but it is different establishing those relationships in a Forwards Coach role. (It’s) something we’ll really build on over the pre-season.”
In the first few weeks of pre-season, the Dons have looked to jump straight into match play with a focus on building conditioning via footy drills.
As the group continues to work with their new players integrating into the system, Roberts has found himself impressed with the early output.
“We’ve been hitting a bit of match play stuff pretty early on, so it’s been really pleasing,” Roberts said.
“We’re trying to get a lot of the conditioning in our match play and our drills, which is really good and much better for the players.
“(It’s) really just a bit around how we want to attack and defend at the moment, a bit around our pressure. They’re the things we’ve been focusing on in the first two weeks and when everyone is back we’ll see some more of that with a bit more intensity and more numbers.”
