Star ruckman David Hille is back to running at 90 percent pace following a serious knee injury according to coach Matthew Knights.
Speaking to media today, Knights said the 2008 Crichton Medal winner is recovering well and could be a huge bonus next season.
""He was incredible that year (2008),"" Knights said.
""He is progressing so wonderfully well at the moment and is running at 80-90 percent. The last week or two has been a great result for him too and he is really starting to push up from that knee.""
Knights said Hille could spend plenty of time in the forward line which places pressure on young key forward Jay Neagle who won't resume full training until January.
""Jay had quite a significant (groin) operation. It's good to see him running around the boundary, he is running at 75-80 percent,"" he said.
""Obviously it's not ideal. We would like Jay to be competing in full training but his body is in decent shape and he has a challenge now too because he is not a walk-up start.
""We have Paddy Ryder, David Hille, Jake Carlisle comes in, Cale Hooker and Darcy Daniher and they are all pushing up, so there is going to be a lot of competition for those two or three forward sports.""
Knights said Scott Gumbleton is also progressing well and he remains hopefully the 21-year-old will play senior football next season.
Meanwhile, Knights says Essendon's new captain will be announced following the club's week-long camp in Coffs Harbour from December 14th to 18th.
""We are doing all our diligence and research and involving a lot of different people across the organisation as we should,"" he said.
""We are really pumped about appointing someone new. There are probably six or seven players in reality and they all have different strengths and are in different age groups as well. The people who need to vote will vote and they will declare their captain.""
Knights also told media he will leave the decision on who the Bombers take with pick No.9 in the upcoming pre-season draft to the recruiting staff.
Essendon also has five picks in the rookie draft which is held on the same day (15th December).
""I will be guided by them (recruiters) if they want to take an 18-year-old great, if they want to take a 22 or 23-year-old that's fine by me also - we've got a lot of flexibility because we have a lot of youngsters,"" he said.
""Even though we are young, most of the boys on the list have played AFL. The sooner we play these youngsters the better they will know each other and the better they are going to connect on the field. We treat them as men because they will be playing against men.""
