Ball movement will be one of the keys to boosting the Bombers scoring power this season according to Line Coach Hayden Skipworth.

After splitting his time between coaching the VFL side and overseeing the stoppages for the senior team last year, Skipworth will be looking after the forward line in 2016. 

The Bombers averaged around ten goals a game last season, while the competition’s most potent sides scored 14 or more per game. 

Skipworth said bridging that gap would require improvement across the ground.

“It’s more about moving the ball quicker, taking easy options,” he said.

“We’re just trying different personnel at this stage, see who works well in combinations.

“It’s certainly a team focus, not necessarily just the six forwards.”

Courtenay Dempsey, Cale Hooker and Ben Howlett are among the ‘different personnel’ training in the forward group throughout the pre-season so far.

The trio are the experienced faces among a young group, but have spent the majority of their careers in other areas of the ground.

Their brief forays forward have been impressive though. 

Dempsey kicked six goals in his final three matches last season.  Hooker had 39 scoring shots after he was sent forward for the final ten games and Howlett has hauls of five, four and three goals to his name throughout his career.

“Our experience down there hasn’t played a lot forward,” Skipworth said.

“We’re very young, very exciting hopefully.

“Benny’s obviously spent time in the midfield and Cale and Demps back so it’s going to have it’s challenges throughout the year. 

“But we’ve got a lot of talent coming through like (Jayden) Laverde, (Kyle) Langford and we drafted some young, exciting forward pockets as well with Yestin (Eades) and Tippa (Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti).

“It’s going to be an exciting year and hopefully we can hit the scoreboard come round one.”

As well as moulding a young and inexperienced forward line group, Skipworth and his fellow coaches will have to adjust to a reduction in the interchange cap.

Teams were allowed 120 rotations last year, but in 2016 that number will fall to 90.

“Clubs are going to explore it throughout the NAB Cup, we’ve got some ideas about it,” Skipworth said.

‘I think obviously the midfielders are going to have to push forward at times - so guys like Jobe (Watson) and (Dyson) Heppell and (Brendon) Goddard. 

“It’s going to be interesting to see if two ruckmen come back in.

“Everyone is going to be sucking and seeing over the NAB Cup and by midway through the year we’ll have a better idea of how it’s going to work for the rest of the season.”

The Bombers are around half way through their first pre-season under Coach John Worsfold.

Combining fitness and skills work has been a focus throughout the last couple of months and Skipworth said the Club was already seeing the benefits.

“It’s been fantastic - as Justin Crow (Physical Performance Manager) has touched on before, we’ve done a lot of football drills pre-Christmas,” Skipworth said.

“Today we had our time-trial and over half the group got PB’s – so it’s a fantastic result that we can get the guys fit and get a lot of football in to them as well.”