“The doctor has told us he is okay to play this week and it is up to us whether he plays in the first or seconds. We will have to have a look at how he trains tonight,” Sheedy said. The return of Ramanauskas will be a morale boost for the Bombers – whether it be in the seniors or the VFL side. His surgery was quite extensive and while the results were good, it has been a slow process for him to get back towards a fitness level that would enable him to play.
Sheedy also revealed that full back Dustin Fletcher is a certain starter against the Kangaroos. Fletcher has missed the past five matches after injuring his ankle against Fremantle. Sheedy said there will be a number of changes made to the side that fell away badly in the final half against the Swans.
Sheedy also dismissed suggestions that Matthew Lloyd was less than 100% fit. “He will play and he played very well for us last week. We just didn’t get the ball inside 50m enough last week – if we had have done it 55 or 60 times he might have kicked eight goals’” Sheedy said.
One change could see Steven Alessio return to the Essendon side. “Alessio was dropped because I didn’t think he was the right man to play on (Jason) Ball and (Adam) Goodes. Goodes adds a real lot of run to the Sydney Swans ruck division. Alessio has played quite consistently this year – I think he is in the top 15 in the AFL in terms of hit-outs. He has served his purpose after we picked him up late in the draft. No-one else wanted him and we have got 10 games out of him. He will most likely come back into the side this week,” Sheedy said.
A couple of the Bombers’ more senior players will go under the microscope at the selection table this week – namely Paul Barnard and Joe Misiti. “To put the younger players in against an experienced Kangaroos side where Paul Barnard and (Joe) Misiti would play is something we really have to balance out at selection at the moment. Mark Johnson played a very good game last week and he is really probably taking Joe Misiti’s spot at the minute. Young (Marc) Bullen has also played really solid footy for us since he came in. We will pick the side that will give us the best chance to win – whether Barnard and Misiti are in is a matter of a day or two,” Sheedy said.
Sheedy conceded the result of this Friday’s match would be a key to Essendon’s chances of being around come September. “We have been a bit in and out. But it is better than winning one and losing three – some clubs have been like that this season. We just have to get back onto the winning list as quickly as we can. The last two weeks we have played a good one and a half games. We just have to make sure we play the game right out like we did against West Coast,” he said.
“The Kangaroos have been in pretty solid form this season. I have just finished watching Robert Shaw’s report on last week’s game. They chip the ball around a hell of a lot until they get towards 60 or 70 metres out from goal and then they kick long. We have to be aware of that tactically. This is a big game – they are sitting just outside the four and we want to stay in touch with the eight.”
Sheedy said he felt some sympathy for the situation Melbourne coach Neale Daniher finds himself in. “Nearly every coach in the AFL is under the pump apart from those in the top four – anyone floating between fifth and last. He has had a lot of his taller backline player out for most of the season and it is hard to hold teams that are playing well when that is the case. I know how hard it is without (Dustin) Fletcher.”
In other news from training tonight, Jason Johnson did some light ball-handling work during the session but was only being given a break from training – he is certain to play this weekend. Damian Cupido left the track early but is also expected to play while captain James Hird did some light running and goal kicking practice.
