Young gun Mason Redman says he is excited to have a pair of fresh faces helping lead the way in the pre-season after returning to the track this week. 

Former premiership-winning Bomber Blake Caracella has joined the coaching ranks at The Hangar, while Sean Murphy has been appointed head of strength and conditioning and Redman was full of praise for the duo. 

“It’s only been a couple of days so far, but they seem to have fit in very seamlessly,” Redman said on Tuesday. 

“Sean seems like he’s going to lead us in a new direction with our fitness, strength and conditioning and I’m really looking forward to working with him.

“Blake (is working) with our attack in the football side of things and I think it’s really exciting for the club to have these two new faces and professionals on board.” 

The first-to-fourth-year players were back in action on Monday to gear up for the 2020 season and Redman was thrilled to kick off the pre-season. 

“It’s awesome to be back at the club, I was really excited to get back in here after a good off-season. 

“All of the boys were keen to get into it yesterday and it was a good first hit-out. Everyone’s returned in pretty good shape. 

“It was good to have 'Cuts' (Tom Cutler) and 'Flip' (Andrew Phillips) out here yesterday training with us as well and a few older boys running around.”

Redman was outstanding throughout the 2019 season, breaking through for 20 senior games to solidify his spot in the top 22 and claim the club’s Most Improved Player at the Crichton Medal. 

But as good as he was this year, the 22-year-old said it was his ability to impress in two AFL opportunities in 2018 that gave him the confidence to settle into the top level so comfortably, particularly with the help of some experienced teammates including Michael Hurley, Conor McKenna and Adam Saad. 

“I think it was the year before where most of the confidence came through getting my chance at senior level. 

“Getting to play alongside 'Hurls', Conor and 'Saady' for 20 games throughout the year was really good and I think I’m going to take that experience that I gained last year into 2020 and hopefully build on that. 

“I want to take my game to the next level and be one of the premier defenders at Essendon and even the comp. 

“I want to really continue to build strong relationships with the other backline players and the rest of the team so we can become a real powerhouse team of the competition.” 

Redman soaks up knowledge like a sponge and he said it was important to continue to learn as much as possible.

He singled out performance coach Mark Corrigan as a key influence on his development, but said he couldn’t pinpoint particular teammates given his strong relationships across the playing list.   

“Mark Corrigan or ‘Harry’ as we like to call him, has been really huge for me,” Redman said. 

“As a player you’ve just got to lean on as many players as you can and get little bits of information off everyone, and I think that’s the best way to go about it.”

Several experienced Bombers returned to training a fortnight early on Monday and Redman said it provided a welcome boost for the young brigade.

“It’s definitely good to have them around and it’s good for the new guys with (Irish recruits) Cian (McBride) and Ross (McQuillan) coming in to meet them before they come back officially. 

“I think it’s really good for the team morale as well. The start of pre-season can often be a tough time for younger players but having these boys around to lead us through is really good.” 

The remainder of the list will officially return for pre-season on November 25.