Line Coach Mark Harvey is using the early stages of the pre-season to assess his defensive options as the Bombers look to reduce the opposition’s scoring power in 2016.

The three-time premiership player will take control of the backline next season.

Key defensive options Dustin Fletcher, Jake Carlisle and Ariel Steinberg are no longer at the Club.

But the Dons still possess strong backline depth.  Cale Hooker and Michael Hurley are both All-Australian defenders, while James Gwilt is one of the most experienced finals players on the Club’s list.

The Bombers also added two of the best key position players from the VFL with Michael Hartley (VFL Team of the Year centre half back) and Mitch Brown (VFL Team of the Year centre half forward) secured in the later rounds of the National Draft.

“The debate will be whether (Cale) Hooker plays forward or back, at the moment he’s training as a forward,” Harvey said.

“I’m having a look at a guy like (Paddy) Ambrose playing in defence at the moment.

“We’ve just recruited another two key tall defenders in Brown and Hartley – where do they fit in?

“Do we play with three tall defenders and three attacking defenders? 

“So we have to work on the balance of what we need down there as well as look at what the opposition presents.”

In 2015, only four teams conceded more points than the Bombers.

“We’re really looking at areas of how we can improve our defensive efficiency,” Harvey said.

“We want to defend, not just in our back 50, so we need to look at the mid arc region and whether we can turn the ball over quicker.

“It’s team defence.  Over pre-season I’m sure once we get the timing right and the understanding of what we need to do, then hopefully we can tighten up this area.”