Essendon VFL coach Dan Jordan says the in-form Bombers are ready to hit the ground running when they kick off their season against Frankston on Sunday.

After falling 13 points short of Richmond in the side’s first pre-season hitout the Bombers have hit their straps, impressing with a convincing trio of victories over Geelong (55 points), Coburg (100) and Sandringham (36).

While Jordan is well aware of the unpredictable nature of football, he is confident the side’s strong form has it in good stead ahead of the season opener.

“We had four practice matches, our first couple we probably played our lower end of our VFL list to give them experience and also just to make some final list decisions,” Jordan said.

“In the last couple of practice matches we’ve looked to try and settle the side and give us a look at what our side is going to look like going into round one.

“I’ve been reasonably happy with the form, it’s also different come round one – as we’ve seen in the AFL with some (unpredictable) results there as well.

“I’m happy with where the boys are at, I think they’re playing in the fashion that we want and they’re really excited to finally be playing games again as opposed to practice rounds.”

There have been several changes to leadership positions in the off-season, with former AFL Bomber Ricky Dyson (backline coach) and Matt Firman (forward coach) joining the coaching team and 2018 skipper Heath Hocking handing over the captaincy to Aaron Heppell.

Jordan said Hocking’s “selfless” move creates a great opportunity for Heppell to develop as the former captain increases his role leading the club’s James Hird Academy.

“‘Buddha’ (Hocking) was obviously captain but looked to hand that off to ‘Hepp’ this year in terms of stepping up in more of a coaching capacity and with his role around the club.

“It’s a really selfless decision from him, but one that gives a great opportunity to Aaron to work on his leadership and take that in. It’s now his sixth year in the program, so (it is) a wonderful way for him to develop.”

Aaron Heppell will take charge of the Bombers for the first time this year. (Image: AFL Victoria)

Heppell will lead a young and enthusiastic side in 2019, with a number of new Bombers joining some exciting emerging talent on the list.

“At VFL level there’s been some guys in their second and third years like Wilson Berry, Nino Lazzaro and Edyn Sibbald who are starting to work out what it’s all about and be really strong.

“At AFL level our young guys are coming through, we’ve got some really exciting talent coming through and they’re starting to look forward to playing their first couple of games for the club.

“We’ll have a fair few guys we’re rolling out on Sunday who will be playing their first actual game for the club, which is really exciting.

“Hopefully some of those guys can go on and forge an AFL career and hopefully some of our VFL guys can put their hand up and potentially get onto an AFL list somewhere.”

Jordan described Sunday’s opponent as an “unknown quantity”, but said the experience playing at the atmospheric venue will be valuable for his young side.

“I’m not too sure on how we’ll go, round one is a bit of an unknown when you haven’t played sides before.

“We’re going to go down there and concentrate on playing the way we want to play.

“We know it’s always a pretty tough challenge to go down there in round one, their supporters get involved and it’s a real suburban feel.

“That will be great for a few of the boys to be able to get amongst that and also for them to be running out for the first time for Essendon and with some guys that they’ve put some really strong pre-seasons with and eventually get to game time.”

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