Essendon senior coach John Worsfold says it is all systems go as the Bombers prepare to take on Fremantle at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.

Uncertainty has filled the sporting landscape in recent days as the AFL has worked through the constantly evolving coronavirus pandemic with its stakeholders, but Worsfold is confident he and his players have maintained focus ahead of their clash with the Dockers.

“Obviously it’s highly unusual and very different, but we’re pretty clear on what we have to do and what we’re getting up for,” Worsfold said on Tuesday.

“As much as there are things we have to do that are different – and we’re getting advice on that – within all of that we’re focusing on training well, working out who is available to be selected and then picking a team to take on Freo, obviously.

“We’re expecting to play and we’re gearing up to play. But we also understand that things possibly could change.

“At the moment, we’re excited about stepping up and getting the season going.”

Worsfold said strong communication to the players has been a key focus given how quickly things can and have changed, and he believes the club has been able to maintain a sense of norm to the best of its ability approaching the home and away season.

“We’ve just come off the track and it was a nice, sharp session. There’s that feel that it is round one coming up.

“It’s very similar to pretty much every year that you’re involved in when in your first session of the week there is a lot of excitement, and it didn’t feel any different out there today.”

Worsfold is preparing for game lengths to be reduced should matches go ahead as scheduled this weekend.

It has been one of many suggestions to have been mooted in recent days as the league looks to overcome the challenge of a shortened season, which has now been confirmed with CEO Gillon McLachlan announcing 2020’s home and away season will consist of 17 games a side.

Worsfold said the proposed shorter quarters could potentially provide clubs with greater flexibility on the selection table in the coming weeks.

“My understanding is it’s likely to be shortened game time,” he said.

“Today was the day we were going to finalise the discussion we had yesterday amongst the coaches plus obviously the players’ discussion, the AFL was going to summarise all of that and send it out today.

“There’s a good chance that the game time may be shorter, which doesn’t impact too much.

“It may be handy for some players who have had shorter pre-seasons – that the workloads won’t be quite as large within a game – but every club will have those players.”

The majority of the league’s players have reportedly proclaimed their intentions to get the season underway this week and Worsfold said he has no concerns for the welfare of the Bombers and staff at this weekend’s game, which will be played in front of an eerily empty stadium.

“We’ve been communicated to really clearly. One of the big risk factors is being in very crowded, enclosed spaces - that’s not going to be case for us when we play this week.

“With the screenings and the doctor’s checks on all of the players that are taking part, you’d like to think it’s as safe as anywhere else you could possibly be.

“All of the advice tends to say that the players are at no greater risk at all in playing.”

Worsfold is taking the unique challenge in his stride having worked through a number of rare situations before both at the beginning of his coaching stint in the red and black and also in his playing career at West Coast.

“I’ve had a few situations in my time in footy that have been different; I played in a Grand Final that wasn’t played at the MCG, I played through pilot strikes where we had to catch small planes that landed a couple of times going across the country, so I’ve had a few situations that have been unusual.

“When I arrived at Essendon we had a lot of players that were unavailable for that year and we had to recruit through February to get out list numbers up.

“This is at another level, but it’s round one and the players have done a mountain of work and they’re excited about playing.”

For now, they’re set to take the field on Saturday, with the first bounce scheduled for 1:45pm.