There is a certain satisfaction in seeing things unfold before you. In so much, at least in Essendon's case over summer, it makes sense why captain Jobe Watson describes this pre-season as ""enjoyable.""

The 26-year-old can see a general improvement in his club's attitude on the track, and a specific development in a number of players. He too, despite being Essendon's best player and one of the most damaging midfielders in the game, feels like he has got better. It bodes well.

The evolution of the Bombers under James Hird started more than a year ago, and recently Hird showed his captain – and former teammate – evidence the players had got better. Watson was impressed by what he saw.

""Hirdy' showed me some footage of the way we were training 12 months ago to now and, compared to what we were, there's been a lot of improvement from the guys and hopefully that translates to the way we want to play,"" Watson said on Friday.
 
The next phase of Essendon's development appears to be having better understanding what the coaches want. Last year, in rising from 14th to eighth on the ladder, they followed plans most of the time. There will be less straying in 2012.

""The program's flowed really well, the guys have been really forthright in the way they want to train, there's been a lot of communication between the playing group and the players,"" Watson said.

""It's always a tough time of the year, but it's nice when there's that mental stimulation and I think the program's allowed us to have that.""

As well as pointing out the size increases in his teammates – Jake Melksham, Dyson Heppell and Travis Colyer are noticeably stronger in the upper body – Watson himself has been working on getting faster.

He doesn't need speed to perform – he always seems a step ahead of the game and rarely gets caught – but it has been a focus to increase his pace at the stoppages, even if he laughed off the level of improvement.

""You'll see me bursting through packs this year, don't worry about that,"" he said with a smile.

There are other factors behind Watson's enthusiasm. As he spoke, Michael Hurley was out on Victoria Park eager to step up his training output after a hamstring niggle.

Courtenay Dempsey, sporting a thick black beard, and Jason Winderlich are on track to re-join full training soon after recovering from knee reconstructions.

Draftees Elliott Kavanagh and Nick O'Brien have shown enough to be in contention for a NAB Cup debut, and so have a couple of the club's rookie recruits.

But still Watson is careful not to get too excited. There's no expectations, apart from maybe one. ""We're just hoping to be better than what we were,"" he said.

Click here to watch Watson's press conference from this morning.