ESSENDON coach Ben Rutten remains \u201chopeful and confident\u201d that several of the club\u2019s out of contract stars will put pen to paper in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
Midfield duo Darcy Parish and Zach Merrett are currently unsigned beyond this year, while forward Jake Stringer is also out of contract.<\/p>\n
Rutten said he was rapt to see Stringer return from injury in Essendon\u2019s big win over West Coast last week, saying he was \u201ccertainly confident\u201d the club was progressing quickly enough to ensure three of their most important players wanted to say.<\/p>\n
“(Jake Stringer) is a really valuable player for us,\u201d he said on Sportsday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows how much we love him and how important he is for us, we have a few guys that are out of contract and we\u2019re working through at the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really hopeful and confident that we\u2019ll be able to retain all those guys and Jake (Stringer) is one of those at the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re certainly confident we\u2019re building something our players want to be part of.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bombers are one of the on-field stories of the year so far, winning their last three games to sit just one win outside of the eight in a season where external expectations were low.<\/p>\n
Rutten, who was part of the coaching transition last year with John Worsfold, said the disruption was ultimately \u201cdetrimental\u201d for Essendon, lauding the opportunity in previous months for his new group to train together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing that has been important for us as a group has been able to train and get these games together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re learning and evolving all the time, the biggest thing last year was the lack of continuity and training to be able to prepare was detrimental to our club and I\u2019m sure others across the board.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to spend January training together, building some chemistry and being able to embed what we\u2019re trying to play and just through circumstance, being able to give some opportunity to young guns has been great and none of them have let us down.\u201d<\/p>\n
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