Five father-son members of the James Hird Academy (JHA) were the beneficiaries of the words and wisdom of champion Essendon full-back Michael Hurley during the Development Day at The Hangar.

Luke Barnard, Noah Caracella, Josh Misiti and Luca and Alex Alessio were in attendance for the second Development Day of the year. Aged between 11 and 15, the youngsters are the sons of 2000 premiership-winning Bombers Paul Barnard, Blake Caracella, Joe Misiti and Steven Alessio.

Following a skills and mobility session with Academies Strength & Conditioning Coach Lauren Hanna and JHA Coach Heath Hocking, the young players entered The Hangar as the two-time All-Australian defender talked about his football journey including his pathway to Essendon and the craft and standards required to maintain a successful AFL career.

“Obviously it was great to spend some time with the boys” the 28-year old said.

“It’s great to see them developing their footy and to come down and work on their marking and have a bit of a chat about football in general.

“Hopefully, they get a few messages about professionalism and what it takes to make it at the highest level.

“They’re obviously talented kids and if they put in the hard work, they can make it to the AFL one day.”

Hocking was pleased that his young charges had the chance to sharpen their training while learning from one of the finest defenders in the competition.

“It’s a chance to get the boys in for a nice four-hour window where they can get in some football craft and some vision,” Hocking said.

“It’s quite a good day. It’s jam-packed but the guys can come in, hopefully just learn a bit about preparation for football, which they all play locally.

“They’re all father-son kids … it’s always nice for them to come into the club across the year.”