Coach James Hird said while it was pleasing to reach the NAB Cup Grand Final, continued improvement leading into Round 1 will remain the priority.
Hird remained undefeated in the senior role as the Bombers scored a 39-point semi-final victory over St Kilda on Friday night, winning through to next week's pre-season decider against either West Coast or Collingwood.
""I think it's really significant for our membersand our supporters that we want to become members,"" Hird said.
""But for the team it's all about the improvement.""
""We've improved in a lot of areas, we've got alot of improvement to go, and we'd like to see that next week we can improveagain on this week,"" he said.
As St Kilda coach Ross Lyon talked the Bombers up as apotential top-four side, Hird downplayed the significance of the victory, whichcontinued Essendon's strong recent form against last year's runners-up.
""You don't want to read too much into tonight'sgame for either side,"" he said.
""St Kilda obviously had some significant playersout and in previous times they've struggled with the pace and forward run ofEssendon, but we're a very different side to what we were last year, so I thinkwe have to wait until we play them in round three.""
""That will be more of a test of how we match up,with a new Essendon and St Kilda playing the strong football they do,"" Hird said.
However, Hird was happy with the pressure his playersapplied across the ground, which led to a decisive 138-101 victory in theall-important contested possession statistic.
""St Kilda are a fantastic contested ball side andfor our guys to compete in that area was a real bonus and another improvementon last week against Melbourne,"" he said.
Hird paid particular praise to livewire Leroy Jetta,whose tackling inside 50 set the tone early in the game, before twice bringingthe crowd to its feet with a pair of spectacular snap goals in the second term.
""Leroy was great,"" Hird said.
""It's great to see him kicking goals and doingthose skilful things that the fans like to see, but the best thing aboutLeroy's pre-season has been his pressure.""
While Henry Slattery sustained a broken thumb in thelast quarter and will spend four to five weeks on the sidelines, Hird expectsto regain big man David Hille for next week's clash.
Dustin Fletcher is another big name that could make a return for Friday night's Grand Final.
""David Hille will probably come back. We'd liketo get a game into him,"" he said.
""He got through training very well, so if we canget him up and running around with Tommy (Bellchambers) and Paddy (Ryder) we'vegot some significant ruck options that we think will be an advantage forus.""
