""We didn't win a game in the pre-season competition last year and still made the Grand Final. We certainly aren't panicking about the results over the past couple of weeks,"" Hird said. ""In fact I think there have been a lot of positives - David Hille has taken the next step and watching Paul Salmon the other night, there is no doubt he still has plenty to offer. When Steve Alessio returns our ruck division will be quite strong,"" Hird said.
""Rob Forster-Knight is an improving defender while Marc Bullen, James Davies and Jordan Bannister have all contributed in the mid-field. Ted Richards was good against Fremantle and Aaron Henneman showed he is an option up forward. So when you look at the big picture I think we are in pretty good shape and I'm sure we have an exciting season ahead of us.""
Essendon was missing 10 premiership players when it went down to Fremantle last weekend. The Bombers were highly competitive for the first three quarters but fell away in the last to go under by 33 points. ""I thought the effort was good,"" Hird said. ""We were missing a lot players - Salmon came off after a half and Scott Lucas and Dean Rioli were injured. Fremantle are never easy to beat at home so I thought we did okay.""
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