Essendon vice-captain Andrew Welsh says hard work and consistency will be the keys if the Bombers are to play finals' football in 2010. Essendon finished in the eight last year despite winning just 10 games for the season - it will need to improve substantially on that if it is to be regarded as a genuine contender.

“We know there is a task ahead of us but we are on the way up,” Welsh said.

“We have a lot of hard work to do but we have a courageous and exciting group of players and we don’t want to be known as just an exciting, young team. We are a group of men playing against other groups of men and we want to be seen in that light.

“We were lucky to make it in to the eight on 10 and a half wins but we beat St Kilda and we were the first to do that. We beat the reigning Premiers Hawthorn twice so we played well against the top sides and we need to play that way consistently and that is what we will be focusing on.”

Assistant coach Alan Richardson said age and experience also won’t affect the selection committee’s judgement ahead of the NAB Cup opener where only the best performers will be named to play West Coast.

“We will pick the best team. We will speak to the medical staff and the conditioning staff and if players are clear to play, they will, but we won’t compromise players who aren’t fit,” Richardson said.
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David Hille moved well at training this morning and is on track with his recovery from knee surgery last year.

“Hilley was moving along nicely and Jason Laycock too,” Welsh said.

“They are going to be two important players for our ruck department and with everyone up and going, it is putting a lot of pressure on and making guys stand up on the training track which is really positive heading into the start of the season.

“We have had our fair share of injuries over the years so it is nice to finally see almost everyone out there training.”

David Myers was restricted to running laps at training after a minor hamstring injury but Richardson said he is progressing well and has not been ruled out of selection contention for round one of the NAB Cup.

“He has had an enormous pre-season and his testing has been through the roof in terms of his personal benchmarking. He has an enormous base behind him and he still could be a chance for the NAB Cup but we will see how he progresses,” Richardson said.
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