New Essendon coach Ben Rutten says he's confident Joe Daniher will stay at the club for 2021 and insists the playing group is hungry to get back to finals football.
The John Worsfold reign came to a close with a 19-point loss to Melbourne at Metricon Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Bombers fought back hard in the final term but could not do enough to end Melbourne's finals hopes.
Rutten told reporters post-match the game "summed up the season" but that his players are committed to a better 2021.
“The guys are really committed to driving and getting ourselves back up as quick as we possibly can," he said.
“There’s certainly not a level of satisfaction as we sit from a wins and losses point of view.
“We just need to get better at all parts of the game."
Rutten also said he's "confident" that Joe Daniher will stay at the club.
“We’ve had a strong relationship, especially over the last couple of months with Joe," he said.
“He’ll make his decision but we need it reasonably quickly obviously because things start to move.
“He knows exactly where he stands from my point of view."
The 37-year old confirmed that Shaun McKernan would not be at the club next season and that more difficult decisions would have to be made.
“I played with him at Adelaide funnily enough so they’re difficult decisions to have but they’re the right ones for the footy club," Rutten said.
Departing coach Worsfold said he was upbeat about the future of the club, and that next season would be a very different story.
“Essendon will be a better team next year I’ve got no doubt," he said.
“Essendon have got good leadership, a great young coach coming through.
“I’ve been excited about watching Ben grow and my aim this year has been to expose Ben as much as possible to what his role is going to be next year.
“To his credit he has lapped everything up."
Worsfold said his focus has been on Essendon and that he hadn't thought about the possibility of a role at another club, but said if he stayed in football that would be "great".