Essendon’s gruelling pre-season continued this week with football boss Paul Hamilton rating the training as some of the most intense he has seen in recent years.
“Training is going really well. It has been really hard, probably the hardest I have seen over the past two years at the club and it is quite obvious that Hird and the coaches are putting the players through their paces,” Hamilton told Bomber.tv.
“It has been identified that we need to see a higher work rate and that is the way training is going.
“This week we are having a lighter week because all the signs are there that the players are fatigued so we will back it off a little bit this week and then step it up again next week.”
Emerging defender Cale Hooker has been placed on a modified training program after straining his hamstring but Hamilton says it is only a minor strain.
“It was the same hamstring that he had a little bit of trouble with during the season so we took him to the surgeon and got some MRI scans but there are no back-related problems which is a real plus,” Hamilton said.
In better injury news for the club, Scott Gumbleton will not require surgery after reporting knee soreness last week.
“It was good news with Gumby because we took him in for an MRI and the scans came back clear of any damage. He has got a little bit of bursitis there but structurally all is fine and he won’t require any other investigative surgery,” Hamilton said.
“Even over the last few days his bursitis has settled so we expect him to do some really good training over the next couple of weeks.”
Ruckmen David Hille and Tom Bellchambers will both undertake a reduced training load this week after also reporting knee soreness however Hamilton says MRI scans revealed there is no structural damage to either player.
