Essendon’s off-season trip to Colorado has been the catalyst for a strong pre-season from the Bombers according to captain Jobe Watson.

The 27–year-old, one of ten Bombers to head on the club’s inaugural high altitude camp in November, believes the trip was a worthwhile venture.

“For guys that have done a lot of pre-seasons it was just the stimulus of a different environment that I really enjoyed,” Watson said.

“Training in the snow, hiking at altitude it was certainly a different environment."

“For the older guys it was the idea that we were not training in Melbourne in November which was quiet enjoyable.

“I think as you get older it can be a bit tiresome coming back and doing the same running so to be able to integrate that with some hiking and the altitude was really beneficial.”

The Bombers skipper said he envisaged a larger group attending the camp next pre-season season to benefit from the altered conditions.

“I think there is scope for a larger group, it is just about having the right facilities there and I am sure the administration at the club will be able to organize that,” he said.

The Bomber’s continued the strong pre-season momentum on Friday with the team training at the club’s new High Performance Centre near the Melbourne Airport.

“We have been really surprised at how the ground has come up, the evenness of it and the softness of it,” Watson said.

“Just to be able to have no cricket pitch in the middle makes a huge difference when you are trying to train.

“The dimensions being the same size as the MCG makes it a lot easier to practice things that you are going to implement during the season.”