Essendon coach John Worsfold is laying the building blocks to deliver the Bombers their 17th premiership

JOHN Worsfold’s spacious office affords him a perfect view of the sobering present and an enticing vision of the future.

Essendon coach John Worsfold in his office 7.25am with coffee Picture: Wayne Ludbey

JOHN Worsfold’s spacious office affords him a perfect view of the sobering present and an enticing vision of the future.

Over his left shoulder past his laptop and desk unfold Tullamarine’s two training fields, where ever-dwindling numbers and aching bodies train each week.

Behind him is an enormous whiteboard, where every now and then Essendon’s first-year coach dares to dream.

His vision for Essendon’s 17th premiership comes into sharp focus when Worsfold compiles his best side for Round 1, 2017.

And yes, that does include all 12 WADA-banned players currently on the sidelines.

“Yeah, I have done it a few times. Each time we get an absolute affirmation,’’ Worsfold says.

“Hooksy (Cale Hooker) re-signed, so that magnet goes back on the board.

“It’s not until we get them signed up ... Well, occasionally I might sneak them all back on.

“At the end of this year we will start looking ... for the immediate future but also the next five to six years.

“I might only have a three-year contract but I won’t be trying to get some early wins to shore my future up, it will be about helping Essendon win another premiership.”

After a 2012 season ruined by a botched sports science experiment and three and a half years of resultant fallout, Essendon is only 11 weeks away from riding out the pain.

Despite a series of predictable on-field results — just one upset win, with plenty of hardship to come — the season has actually been an unqualified success.

Essendon’s banned stars will almost all return, a fleet of high draft picks have been exposed to the big time, and Worsfold has unearthed half a dozen unknown kids.

The faith in Essendon’s new-look program comes not just from Worsfold but players like Michael Hurley, who the coach recently caught up with.

“I tell them what the future is like and what we are trying to achieve,’’ says Worsfold.

“They are all very excited by (No. 5 draft pick) Aaron Francis, they get down and watch VFL footy when they can.

“They are excited by what they have seen from Walla (Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti), they have been impressed by Courtenay Dempsey and they can see the changes happening.

“We have had a look at (Orazio) Fantasia in different roles, at (Kyle) Langford. Langford and (Jayden) Laverde and (Darcy) Parish are coming along well.

“I am having a good look at Marty Gleeson, then Jake Longis a long way ahead of where people expected him to be, and Connor McKenna has played a lot of games.

“So it’s all pretty exciting.”

Those green shoots of regeneration have combined with the surprise packets and the heartwarming stories.

Matthew Leuenberger grows by the week in the ruck, David Zaharakis (last week excluded) has been superb, Michael Hartley has been a revelation as a full back.

And with inside midfielder Darcy Parish, they have another emerging star in a 2017 midfield which should read Heppell, Watson, Goddard, Zaharakis, Colyer, Parish, Stanton and Kelly.

“With Darcy we needed him to get his hands on it a fair bit and he has. He is clean, he hits the contest very hard, and he just makes the right decision,” the coach says.

Will Hams has worked through family tragedy to play senior football, Tipungwuti’s long journey is well known and Yestin Eades is making solid steps despite a background that includes jail time for both parents.

Yet if Essendon’s top-ups and young kids have provided a weekly dose of good vibes, Worsfold knows 55 doesn’t go into 42 next year.

He makes no bones about the reality there are brutal decisions ahead for a group that has given its all in a highly unorthodox year.

“That is just being honest with the players,’’ he says.

“It’s pretty tough. They walk in the door post-season and they know they aren’t contracted and they will get an answer one way or another.

“When they get an answer they aren’t hoping for, you can see all their life drains out of them.

“They are deflated and their mind is racing and you want to make them feel better but you can’t because you are not their favourite person right now.”

But for now, Essendon’s top-ups have not only helped stem the bleeding, they have handed Essendon a top-to-bottom review of its football program.

Every one has sat down with the coaching and high-performance staff, providing frank critiques.

“Maybe Mark Jamar and James Kelly came in together, then (Ryan) Crowley and (Mathew) Stokes,” says Worsfold.

“We asked them their first impressions of Essendon and what we could do better and what we are doing well.

“We asked about facilities, where we rated really highly, and training schedules, training loads, recovery protocols and we took a lot of notes.”

On the training track they are constant teachers, Crowley constantly pushing last year’s No. 4 draft selection Parish to higher levels.

“We will be doing competitive work and Crowley will say, `I just did this to you and you let me do it’. And Crowls has said a couple of times, ‘Darcy is already not falling for the same trick’.

“Those things are awesome.”

Ex-Geelong star Kelly, 32, has been the pick of the top-ups — soft-tissue injuries have predictably hit Stokes, Simpkin, Grima and Crowley — and has the form to play on next year.

“I haven’t spoken to Kel about it. Our relationship is a nod and a wink, we don’t have to say too much,’’ says Worsfold. “But if Kel said he wanted to play on we would give it strong consideration.”

Already of the banned 12, Hooker, Travis Colyer, Dyson Heppell, Heath Hocking and David Myers have signed on.

Tom Bellchambers is likely to recommit, Michael Hibberd is considering his options and Tayte Pears might yet retire but Worsfold believes Stanton and Ben Howlett will return.

“We have got to present offers to them and they have got to accept those offers, but I am pretty confident with those guys.”

Worsfold says all signs point to Watson returning — they met before he left for New York — while the club is getting closer to a new deal for Michael Hurley.

“He wants to be part of this. He is contracted so it’s more whether he is totally flat with the joint and needs a break. That seems unlikely but it’s his call.

“I am very excited to get the opportunity to coach him.”

The lack of expectation around a win-loss record has allowed Worsfold liberties he has never had before.

Fantasia has mostly played forward rather than midfield because that’s where his best spot will be in 2017.

Tipungwuti, considered by some as a small forward, has better 2017 prospects as a defender so that’s where he plays.

Shaun Edwards recently broke back into the side and was promised a solid block of games.

“If the first week isn’t a ripper, I have said don’t worry we will back you in,’’ says Worsfold.

Bottom line: by Round 1, 2017 Essendon should have an elite squad with real selection pressure and a coach with the wherewithal to harness that potential.

It has been the ultimate baptism of fire for Worsfold dealing with myriad challenges of Essendon’s bizarre season.

No wonder he has barely had time to breathe, let alone bask in the cosmopolitan lifestyle of Melbourne.

John and wife Georgina and daughters Sophie, Charlie, and Grace rent David Hale’s Essendon house, with three kids happy at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar’s Keilor campus.

He clocks in at 7.30am then it’s heads-down, bums-up until 6pm.

“I love being part of a team that has a big picture they are working towards,’’ says Worsfold.

“It would be our 17th premiership and that’s what we are building towards.”