Essendon coach Brad Scott has a simple message for anyone who thinks his struggling AFL club is in a "rebuild" phase.
Adamant his playing group is far better than a 0-3 start to the season suggests, Scott believes the bulk of the Bombers' heavy lifting is behind them.
"You can put labels on all sorts of things, but when you turn your list over by 39 (players) in three years, I think the hard work's done," Scott said.
"We made decisions to push draft picks into the future to be able to bring in opportunities to invest in the draft.
"If you look at the last three years, we've done that. It's not (like) we need to strip the list back and rebuild it. That process started three years ago."
Essendon have been defeated in their past 16 matches in a barren run dating back to May last year, and are staring down the barrel of equalling a club-record losing streak.
A huge task lies ahead against the unbeaten, free-scoring Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
On paper, it seems the most pertinent query is about the margin of defeat, rather than the result.
"Look, I think it's a fair question," Scott said.
"I've never been a person - player, coach, whatever - that is interested in reducing a margin.
"You go out and you get on the front foot. In boxing parlance, you throw the first punch."
While it may or may not result in a much-needed win, Scott will measure Essendon's improvement in aspects of the game the Bulldogs can't control.
"They can't control how well we pressure and our intent in the contest," Scott said.
"They're primarily where the focuses are. It's pretty simple - pressure in the contest, win the ball, contested stuff, pressure when we haven't got it, and then the execution with ball in hand."
The Bombers face big selection calls, with young forward Nate Caddy (concussion) unavailable and first-round draft pick Sullivan Robey pressing for his debut.
Scott defended the club's handling of Caddy, who kicked 1.2 in last week's loss to North Melbourne before experiencing delayed concussion symptoms.
"It can be very, very hard in the immediate term to diagnose," Scott said.
"When you're a player like Nate who's never had any concussion symptoms in his life, he's very confused as to why he's feeling the way he is.
"But as soon as he was assessed the doctors came to me and said he'll be straight in the concussion protocols."
