Thousands of Essendon and AFL fans met with star Bomber players on Friday as the club visited 11 locations in Tasmania and across Victoria.
The over-riding message coming from the visits was the excitement the fans have about the young Essendon list in 2009.
One of the highlights of the trip was a huge welcome at Mildura airport for home-town hero Matthew Knights and players Paddy Ryder, Andrew Lovett and Hayden Skipworth.
Junior fans were taught football skills by Alwyn Davey, Nathan Lovett-Murray, Jay Nash and David Myers in Portland and were shown a fun training drill that you can't replicate in games - throwing grass at someone who is running in to kick at goals.
