It was a largely new-look Essendon in many facets of Saturday’s AAMI Community Series matchup with St Kilda.

Five Dons recruits and draftees took the field at different stages for their first official pre-season hitout in red and black, while a slew of experienced players who fell victim to last year’s injury list made positive returns to action – Kyle Langford a particular standout from that crop with 20 touches and a couple of majors.

Within that setting, the Bombers also made a conscious effort to ‘throw the magnets around’, the coaching panel opting to squeeze every possible look out of their lineup before a round one date with Hawthorn in just 11 days’ time.

Midfield Coach Ben Jacobs pointed to that opportunity for adjustment as a positive from the day despite it ending in defeat, suggesting the Club got mostly what it wanted from their practice match schedule.

“It’s a bit like this with practice matches. Obviously, we got what we wanted out of it – boys unscathed, got some more minutes into some of our youth,” Jacobs said.

“Late in those games, you do flip the magnets and take a few guys off. All in all, we’re happy with how it went.”

On the note of youth, there was plenty of it out there for the Bombers.

Draftees Jacob Farrow, Dyson Sharp and Max Kondogiannis all had impressive moments in their varying minutes, while second-year defender Zak Johnson (24 disposals) reiterated the benefits of a first uninterrupted pre-season.

Sharp was a notable performer in the eyes of his midfield coach, who loved the former SA Captain’s grunt work against experienced opponents.

“It’s the same with a lot of our young guys, especially Sharp. When you go to these games, you wonder if they can maintain the rage and keep up with the pace of the game, and Sharp’s definitely one (who can),” Jacobs said.

“Deep in the fourth quarter, he was still turning up to contests, we were pleased with his game. As with all the development of the young guys, you’re playing pretty much all of them that are available and they all showed signs at different times.

“When Zak (Johnson) was drafted he was one of the youngest in the draft and did no pre-season, so being able to put together a full pre-season at his age has been awesome. He’s taking good strides in the way he defends and attacks, he’s obviously a great ball user.

“You add in ‘Kondo’, even Farrow, all those young boys are really impressive.”

Although being a more mature prospect at 27, Lachie Blakiston’s move back to a familiar ruck position holds plenty of upside as the Club also prepares for Nick Bryan to integrate back into the group.

That ruck depth will benefit the shape of Jacobs’ midfield, with early signs positive for Blakiston (16 disposals and 21 hitouts) matched up against a strong pairing of Rowan Marshall and Tom De Koning.

“He’s definitely leading the charge (in our ruck stocks),” Jacobs said.

“He’s had two good hitouts, with De Koning and Marshall today he’s been able to do it against the best – we’ve got young Vigo Visentini as well who’s had a good pre-season, Nick Bryan’s back to full training off his ACL.

“It’s exciting for Lachie, the prospect of what’s ahead, but there is some depth there as well.”

Archie Roberts’ push up the ground has allowed the third-year Don to flourish again as he springboards from a breakout campaign last year.

Leading all comers from his side with 29 touches at almost 80 per cent efficiency, the natural nous of the youngster means Jacobs can take a more ‘free’ approach with him on gameday.

“He’s the ultimate team man, Archie – I love coaching him,” Jacobs said.

“You just let him go, it’s a ‘don’t think too much, do’ with him. He’s a natural footballer who can swing into any position during the game when you call on him.

“He’s one we’ve enjoyed watching grow around the midfield, he’s just such a powerful runner.”

As a date with the Hawks in front of potentially 90,000 attendees approaches, competition for spots is a welcome headache for a season opener.

Striking that balance between youth and experience will be a key component for the Dons’ coaches, who took the successful approach of managing minutes and getting through the Saints game unscathed.

“100 per cent, you’ve got to balance it out,” Jacobs said.

“When you’ve got a young side, it’s hard to know what your best set positions are. We probably flipped the magnets too much at times today, but we just need to see it all. We’ll be able to sit down as a coaching group and get a handle on what looks best.

“It’s important for a young group to have those types of senior players to lead them out there. Darcy Parish is looking great but what that does for Sharp, Farrow, Roberts inside, they’ve got some guys to model off which hasn’t always been there. 

“For him to come back and talk about his game instead of his body with me this year (as midfield coach) has been great and he’s just enjoying it. I don’t think he’s played too much since I’ve been at the Club, but he’s impressive.

“It was always planned to take Duursma and Wright off. We changed late with taking guys off to try and prep for round one, so it was always part of the program – we’re injury-free which is the main thing.”

Zach Reid is another who’s gunning for a free run at it this season, off the back of a very impressive opening 10 rounds last season which saw him rocket up the Crichton Medal standings.

The key back has been building nicely through the past few weeks of match simulation, working into the contest nicely to end up with 15 touches and four marks against the Saints on this occasion.

“’Reidy’s an elite talent, he really got going in the game,” Jacobs said.

“Sydney last year early on, he put his name on the map a bit and then unfortunately got injured, but he hasn’t missed a beat.

“Even though he didn’t play in the back half of last year, he’s still had two full pre-seasons, so seeing him there working on some synergy with Ben McKay, even Blakiston – you’ve always got to work with the ruck a bit – has been great. He looks in good touch.”

Another two draftees from Reid’s class in Archie Perkins and Nik Cox each made impressive returns in limited AFL and VFL minutes respectively, while Harry Jones also saw out a half in the Sunday practice match at the NEC Hangar.

A pre-season bolstered by Mat Inness and a new high performance team has held the group of returning Bombers in good stead for a push into round one, with several names to be in the mix for Friday night footy.

“I think Mat Inness has done a great job of making all these guys primed to come back,” Jacobs said.

“Perkins has done some big (14-plus kilometre) sessions for a while now, it’s not just like he’s come back out of nowhere. We’re doing the same with a lot of others, so he’s definitely in contention. It was good to see him at AFL level today, we’ll go back and review it but he’s definitely in the mix.

“The thing with Nik, he did get a body of work early in the pre-season which was good, he’s going to look to play forward and up on the wing at times, same with Jones. He’s enjoying being out there again, he’s an athletic freak – you forget how good he is until you actually see him up close, the way he covers the ground.

“100 per cent, Isaac Kako’s a chance (to play round one). Like the others, he’s doing some big sessions and is pushing for round one, but those questions will answer themselves.

“We’re pretty solid in terms of how we want to play, now it’s just about putting the puzzle together, probably training a bit of those scenarios in-game that we just want to tidy up.

“We’ve got some selection dilemmas with guys returning and we’re still running eight on the bench, I know a few came on later in the game but there’s decisions to be made.”