havoc_planet
Team Captain
WITH his side knocking on the door of the top eight, Kevin Sheedy is bullish on the Bombers’ chances of a victory over the Swans in Sydney this Saturday.
The 2005 premiers appear to be slowly regaining some of their grand final touch, having beaten Port Adelaide and the Bulldogs in the past fortnight, but two wins on the trot for Essendon had the veteran coach in a buoyant mood when he spoke to reporters on Wednesday.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good side ready to go to Sydney, we’ve won a game over in Adelaide which was a terrific win, we beat Sydney last year and they haven’t beaten us by much in the last couple of years when they’ve been in grand finals,” Sheedy said at Windy Hill.
“I think we’re a better team this year than probably the last two years at least.
“We’re a better team this year than last year, obviously with Lloyd back in the team, but we’ve taken a decent 18 months to get some young players in that can actually play pretty good footy very early in their careers. That’s very hard to do, particularly if they’ve only been in the place about 18 months.”
Facing the prospect of battling twin towers Darren Jolly and Peter Everitt, Sheedy flagged the return of ruckman Jason Laycock for the clash, but he warned the 22-year-old needed to take the next step in his development to keep his spot.
At the other end of the spectrum, Sheedy expressed his delight at the form of veteran James Hird who, after flirting with retirement last year, hasn’t missed a game this season and received the award for best-on-ground in the dramatic Dreamtime at the ‘G win last weekend.
“Hird very rarely trains, he mainly needs the energy for the weekends, and I think that’s been a pretty good bonus for us because the alternative was him sitting in the grandstand retired,” he said.
“I think he’s enjoying his year better than what he may have thought.”
Asked if Hird might consider playing on further, Sheedy said he hadn’t had that discussion with him, but felt it was unlikely.
With the season back on track, Sheedy will continue to tinker with his line-up and forecast the imminent introduction of some new faces with an eye on the future.
“I’m pretty close to putting some new kids into the team over the next month. I’ve told the team that and discussed it with the selectors. We’d like to get two or three more younger players into the line-up with pace,” he said.
“We’ve got to make sure that (players such as) Houli and Winderlich come on and just keep working on that group of players like Henry Slattery.
“If we can get six or seven or eight players up and build a new block of young players in the team then the fans will enjoy that.”
Players in contention for a call-up include Tom Hislop, Jay Nash and rookie-listed Dean Dick, who Sheedy said would come under serious consideration for promotion in the next fortnight.
The 2005 premiers appear to be slowly regaining some of their grand final touch, having beaten Port Adelaide and the Bulldogs in the past fortnight, but two wins on the trot for Essendon had the veteran coach in a buoyant mood when he spoke to reporters on Wednesday.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good side ready to go to Sydney, we’ve won a game over in Adelaide which was a terrific win, we beat Sydney last year and they haven’t beaten us by much in the last couple of years when they’ve been in grand finals,” Sheedy said at Windy Hill.
“I think we’re a better team this year than probably the last two years at least.
“We’re a better team this year than last year, obviously with Lloyd back in the team, but we’ve taken a decent 18 months to get some young players in that can actually play pretty good footy very early in their careers. That’s very hard to do, particularly if they’ve only been in the place about 18 months.”
Facing the prospect of battling twin towers Darren Jolly and Peter Everitt, Sheedy flagged the return of ruckman Jason Laycock for the clash, but he warned the 22-year-old needed to take the next step in his development to keep his spot.
At the other end of the spectrum, Sheedy expressed his delight at the form of veteran James Hird who, after flirting with retirement last year, hasn’t missed a game this season and received the award for best-on-ground in the dramatic Dreamtime at the ‘G win last weekend.
“Hird very rarely trains, he mainly needs the energy for the weekends, and I think that’s been a pretty good bonus for us because the alternative was him sitting in the grandstand retired,” he said.
“I think he’s enjoying his year better than what he may have thought.”
Asked if Hird might consider playing on further, Sheedy said he hadn’t had that discussion with him, but felt it was unlikely.
With the season back on track, Sheedy will continue to tinker with his line-up and forecast the imminent introduction of some new faces with an eye on the future.
“I’m pretty close to putting some new kids into the team over the next month. I’ve told the team that and discussed it with the selectors. We’d like to get two or three more younger players into the line-up with pace,” he said.
“We’ve got to make sure that (players such as) Houli and Winderlich come on and just keep working on that group of players like Henry Slattery.
“If we can get six or seven or eight players up and build a new block of young players in the team then the fans will enjoy that.”
Players in contention for a call-up include Tom Hislop, Jay Nash and rookie-listed Dean Dick, who Sheedy said would come under serious consideration for promotion in the next fortnight.
