Matthew Egan has taken control of his first training session as interim Essendon Coach. 

It was the first time the side has trained together since James Hird’s departure was announced. 

Egan said despite the disruption at the start of the week, the players were in a positive frame of mind. 

“It was a really good mood,” he said. 

“It was a pretty short and sharp, the wind didn’t really help a few things but it was a really good session.”

Essendon will travel to the Gold Coast tomorrow ahead of the match against the Suns on Saturday. 

Egan wants the side to play with the high energy and fast ball movement that has been a feature in the club’s victories this season. 

“There is no doubt we need to play with some excitement,” he said. 

“I don’t want to see them to hesitate with the ball.  I want to see them wheel and go and take options that they see rather than think about it too much.” 

The Bombers made a promising start to the season defensively, conceding more than 100 points just once in the first 11 matches. 

But the last five games have been a different story with the opposition kicking 14 or more goals each time. 

“We need to play a bit better as a ‘team’, cover for each other more,” Egan said. 

“Being defensive coach, I want to see them a bit stronger in defence – I think we’re giving up too many goals a quarter and being a little bit easy to play against.” 

Essendon has won all four matches against Gold Coast since the expansion club’s inception.