Essendon are considering shifting key defender Michael Hurley forward for the 2021 season in a bid to cover the loss of Joe Daniher.
Daniher departed for Brisbane at the end of last season, while fellow tall Shaun McKernan has also departed, leaving the Essendon forward line a little low on height.
The Bombers were able to secure Peter Wright from the Gold Coast in last year's trade period, but they will be hoping they can find some support for their new recruit.
The Age have reported that Rutten has addressed the possible shift for Hurley on the Lunchtime Catch Up Podcast in an episode to be released on Monday.
“He’s spending a bit of time to build connection up in the forward line. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll play him there for the whole season, but it’s just about giving him a bit more experience and exposure up there.”
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James Stewart has spent his career as a third tall and has now been working on his defensive craft as Rutten looks to implement his game plan and style on this Essendon side.
Harrison Jones is one of the younger players that have caught the eye of their mentors this pre-season having put on substantial size ahead of his second year in the system.
“You compare him to last year when we saw him as a skinny kid out of school, now he’s looking like a man that’s starting to compete, as we need key forwards to do,” Rutten said.
“We’ve got such a rich history of success, we’re a 150-year-old footy club, there’s so much there that I really wanted to tap into and really get a deeper understanding myself as a coach. We need to understand where we’ve come from as a footy club,” Rutten said.
“We’ve come from that family, a working-class area in Essendon.
“I think that’s something we need to get back to and reconnect with. I think that’s who Essendon are at its core and at its heart, a hard-working, blue-collar team that puts in. We want to play really reliable, dependable footy, to look after each other. We want our guys to reconnect with that.”