Essendon captain Jobe Watson says anything short of a finals appearance this year will be a failure as he embarks on his first year as Bombers skipper.
The Bombers scraped into the finals in 2009 with just 10 wins and a draw, but they were humiliated in Adelaide in an elimination final as the Crows handed them a 96-point thrashing.
It will be an almighty effort if Essendon matches its achievement last year considering it has a horror draw in 2010 where it faces all of last year's top four teams in Geelong, St Kilda, Western Bulldogs and Collingwood twice, as well as expected improvers Hawthorn and West Coast.
Despite that, Watson remains confident of another finals appearance and said that a lot of the players are using last year's loss to Adelaide as motivation for the season ahead.
"It's (pre-season) going well, we've got a fit list … probably 47 guys available for Round 1 so we're really excited about the season," Watson told Sportal.
"We played finals last year and we've shown how far off finals pace we were and it's sort of burnt a lot of guys so I think it's been a good driving force over the pre-season and we'll be looking to at least equal how we finished last year or better it."
"I think that's got to be the aim - to play finals."
Watson also believes the return of ruckman David Hille will have an enormous impact on the team.
Hille, who won the club's best and fairest award in 2008, missed the bulk of 2009 after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in the Round 5 Anzac Day clash against Collingwood.
Young gun Paddy Ryder stepped up in his absence and Watson is excited about the prospect of the two big men playing together again.
"We missed him and I think Paddy Ryder is probably the most relieved bloke in football so to have him sharing the roles with Paddy and looking for them both to play more of a forward role as well and it gives us a great balance," Watson said of Hille.
"Hilly obviously had a terrible injury but his diligence to do his recovery for a big bloke he is just in sensational nick and he'd be looking forward to a big year."
Despite a relatively short injury list, Essendon will be without exciting youngster Michael Hurley for the first three matches of the year after the leadership group suspended him following the adjournment of his assault charges until June.
Watson said Hurley fully accepted the punishment and he and the club have moved on from it.
"We spoke about it, he was comfortable with it, we've moved on and he's moved on and he's really looking forward to the season starting," Watson said.
"Once it's all behind him he can focus on footy and that's what he does best."