Training match-ups will form an important part of the defensive group’s development over the pre-season, according to Performance Coach Mark Harvey.

The Bombers have added a number of players to their defensive stocks over the last 12 months including Matt Dea, Michael Hartley, James Kelly and Mitch Brown.

When the return of Michael Hurley and emergence of Patrick Ambrose is added to the mix, competition for spots will be tough. 

Harvey welcomed the selection headaches and anticipated some hotly contested match-ups on the training ground in the lead-up to the JLT Community Series. 

“That’s always a good thing, you want players vying for spots and hopefully that pushes them beyond what they normally need to do,” Harvey said. 

“January and February we’ll move right into formations and making sure our game is on track so we’ll find out a lot more about the players. 

“We’ve got some dangerous small forwards ourselves now. 

“Fantasia, Walla and Colyer – they’ll keep our small defenders on their toes, so that’s a great challenge and a great two to three months of training that the defenders are going to get on these guys.

“Hopefully we’ll see that we’ll be a lot better defensively just based on experience. “

Harvey said the return of Hurley not only boosted the Club’s on-field stocks but also provided an important resource for the young players.

“He’s obviously played there for a period of time and played against all of the key forwards…it’s invaluable what he can offer,” he said.

“When you have meetings and you have input – what they (the returning players) say is normally spot on even before the coaches have to say too much.

“That’s what we’ve really noticed with these guys coming back … they’ve fast tracked into what’s expected and what decisions have to be made.”

Number one draft pick Andrew McGrath is training under Harvey’s watch. 

McGrath displayed his talents across a variety of positions in 2016, but is being groomed in defence in his first AFL pre-season. 

“He’s got good speed and agility, he’s got a good leap on him,” Harvey said. 

‘He’s obviously going to need to get stronger because if he plays in defence and he plays on small forwards, they’re normally dynamic and powerful so that will be an area of his development over the coming months. 

“As the training progresses we’ll put him on more experienced forwards and we’ll see what he’s got.”