There were three clubs whose off-season travails kept the AFL well and truly in the spotlight throughout the spring and summer.

Brisbane and St Kilda through the antics of a select few players and then there was Essendon as Cyclone Hird blew its way through Windy Hill.

The 'In: Hird, Out: Knights' saga didn't show the Bombers in the best light. Despite their best endeavours, the Bomber hierarchy never quite convinced us that the plan to replace Matthew Knights with the James Hird-Mark Thompson combination wasn't hatched well before the end of last season. Patrick Smith, an Essendon loyalist even before he was a grumpy fast bowler turned columnist has gone as far as to ditch Essendon for Richmond as his team of choice, so disgusted was he by the club's actions.

But in terms of football, this is now ancient history. The Bombers did what they did and the early signs are that they are a vastly improved team compared to last season, when they won just seven games.

Hird has stiffened the Bombers defensively. The Bombers of old worked hard to push forward when they had the ball, but their defensive efforts - all over the ground - were rubbish. In this year's NAB Cup, we saw the Bombers cause Melbourne and then St Kilda to turn the ball over constantly due to their tremendous pressure and even in last week's Grand Final, the mighty Collingwood were often on the back foot as the Bombers went hunting.

The Bombers are fitter than last year, fitter than for a considerable period in fact. What the Bombers hated about the final season of the Knights era was the number of blow-out defeats; the Bombers didn't have the legs to run out games, but this year they look tanned and buffed. It seemed that every day or so on Twitter during the summer that one Essendon player or another was mentioning that they had just finished another long and torturous training session.

Hird has also started to create competition for senior berths. Kyle Hardingham used the NAB Cup to demand a place in the backline, likewise Tom Bellchambers in the ruck.

You also have to figure the Bombers will be coached better. Hird has Thompson, a dual Geelong premiership coach, sitting over his shoulder watching his every move. Not bad for a coach still on his 'L' plates.

So why only 10th? For all the early improvement under Hird, the Bombers are coming from a long way back. By a strange quirk, they had St Kilda's measure, winning both matches against last year's runner-up but were largely uncompetitive against much of the rest of the competition.

The Bombers have some pace but, with the exception of skipper Jobe Watson, don't have hard-bodied ball winners in the centre. They have some explosive pace near goal and the likes of Leroy Jetta and Alwyn Davey are excitable and combustible, but which tall forward is going to deliver the 60 or so goals needed for a side to win 12 or more games in a season.

It could be Michael Hurley, but he has been something of a swingman for the Bombers in recent years and he needs to settle once and for all up forward or down back. He is an exciting prospect.

Every year provides us with a bolter, a side that comes from the back of the pack to play finals football. It could be well be Essendon, because Hird is starting to build something at Windy Hill. There will undoubtedly be major improvement in 2011, perhaps not enough to make the finals.

The story so far

11. Melbourne

12. North Melbourne

13. West Coast

14. Richmond

15. Gold Coast

16. Port Adelaide

17. Brisbane