It was just 30 minutes after Essendon’s semi-final loss and Kevin Sheedy was already looking to the club’s next match. He told the media how important it was the younger players took the opportunity to show they can play. That match is this weekend. Sheedy was talking about was the ""Clash of the Sash"" – a match against Richmond being played at The Oval in London. Sure, the result means nothing but Sheedy wasn’t kidding about what he expects.

The Essendon coaching panel is expecting the likes of Ted Richards, James Davies, Sam Hunt, Marc Bullen, Cory and Toby McGrath, Aaron Henneman, Ken Hall, Shane Harvey and Scott Howard to give a very good account of themselves. They are the future of the Essendon Football Club – if they want to be – and they must take this opportunity to further their cause.

Mark Harvey said today that while it is seen as being a game of no consequence to many, it is an excellent showcasing of Australian Rules. He said the players won’t under-estimate the importance of the match and what it can mean to their careers. “We went over there a few years back and a fellow by the name of Stephen Milne showed he could really play football. He ended up with St Kilda but it was an important step for him. The same can be said for Andrew Dimmatina who went on to play some senior football with Collingwood,” Harvey said.

“And other things have been discovered about players – it is a chance to experiment. We have had Mark Bolton play in this match as a ruck rover and Adam Ramanauskas, as a developing player, did an excellent job on Ben Dixon of Hawthorn. So you can still learn a lot about players, their commitment and their versatility in games like this.""

Harvey re-iterated that Sheedy would be very fair dinkum about the game. “He never likes to have this club embarrassed wherever it travels and plays. He will want to win the match make no mistake about that,” Harvey said.

One player who will be of interest to Essendon supporters this weekend will be Scott Howard – a rookie list player whom Kevin Sheedy has a big opinion of. “Sheeds likes him so this is an excellent chance for him,” Harvey said. “He has shown some promising signs in the VFL side during the season. He knows that this club has a record of giving its rookies every chance so this is an important game for him.”

The Bombers have had one training run at The Oval and also done some light running around Hyde Park – near where they are staying. The match will be broadcast this Saturday night on Channel Nine commencing at 10.30pm.