Essendon coach James Hird could not be more pleased with the way the team has started their 2015 pre-season campaign.

The playing group will have a two-week break over the Christmas/New Year period before returning to the track on January 7.

Hird said he was expecting big things from his playing group based on the way they had trained through the first eight-weeks of the pre-season.

“Pre-season training has been outstanding so far this year and I could not be happier with where the squad is at,” Hird said.

“We have had a few little niggles and injuries but the majority of training has been excellent, the guys are completing their fitness tests at a higher level then ever before.

“I think we have a squad that is very capable of going a long way in September in 2015 from what we have seen already in pre-season.”

Hird said the recruitment of a number of experienced senior players to the side during the trade and free agency period has had a profound impact upon the playing group.

“The experience in the squad has meant that the level of training, the way the guys have learnt and the way they have been taught is much quicker then before,” he said. 

“The younger guys have been able to add an extra spark in terms of their fitness and the way that they have come into training.

“We are very pleased from a coaching point of view and can’t wait for the 2015 season to kick off.”

The Bombers coach said he was looking forward to the club continuing to become a better organisation in 2015.

“It has been a huge year, a huge two year’s that has affected all of us in different ways from supporters, members, the board, the players and all the staff,” he said.

“Hopefully we will move through this very quickly and become a better football club because of what has happened.

“We have learnt a lot from the mistakes we have made and are very keen to move through it and become a better football club.”