Essendon’s returning players have stepped back inside the Club for the first time since January.

Dyson Heppell, David Myers and Heath Hocking were the first players to return on the day some of the rules surrounding their suspensions were lifted.

“It’s obviously a very exciting day,” Heppell said.

“It has been quite a rough year and very mentally and emotionally draining, but this is a very exciting day.

“It’s a step towards that closure … it’s fantastic that we are able to be around the footy Club and get around the boys again. 

“I haven’t been here for a while so I’m interested to see what it looks like now and see if my locker is still clean.”

Heppell and his teammates have been training as a group under the guidance of former Essendon Assistant Coach and premiership player Sean Wellman and former Collingwood and Carlton fitness boss David Buttifant.

“At the start of this process we put a plan in place to try and come up with the best people to put around us to have an elite training environment,” Heppell said.

“The training level we’ve been holding has been to an AFL standard.

“We’re more than ready to come back and kick off a pre-season … everyone is in very good condition and obviously excited to be back.

“We’ll continue to train up until the end of September, get a bit of a breather in October … refresh and be ready to go in November when the young boys come back.”

At this stage, the returning players can use Club headquarters to train but restrictions around their participation in Club directed media, marketing, commercial or promotional activities remain in place.

The full bans for the nine players who have declared their intention to return to the Bombers will be lifted on November 13. 

Should Jobe Watson decide to return, his ban will end on November 21.

For some great end of season specials at Bomber Shop HQ click here.