Essendon veteran Mark McVeigh says being around the 2000 Premiership side early in his career helped make him become a passionate Bomber and says the current team is eager to impress that great squad.
Speaking ahead of his 200th game this Sunday - which will be held before the 10-year Premiership celebration at Crown - the 29-year-old says he is proud to be at Windy Hill.
""It’s great, I think it's fortunate firstly to play for Essendon, but 200 games; it’s been a great ride,"" McVeigh said to Bomber.tv this morning.
""But it’s even better for this weekend because the 2000 team is getting together, so I think it’s an even bigger occasion for the football club.""
McVeigh revealed he is not disappointed at missing out on playing in the 2000 Premiership side saying he simply wasn't good enough at that stage of his career.
""It was a good learning curve for myself, it makes you work harder,"" he said.
""In 2000 they were a great side, and I was fortunate to grow up with those players. I suppose I owe a lot to that team, at least; and the coaching staff of that time helped you towards your passion for the football club, so I owe them a lot as well.
""You like to impress the players of the calibre of the 2000 side that will be there (the 10-year celebration), and its certainly been spoken about. The younger players are excited to meet players, like Mark Mecuri, Misiti, Alessio who you don’t see a lot of around the football club, because they’ve got their own lives. We speak about Hird and Lloyd often.
""Those type of players like the Johnson’s; they made the side as well, so I think everyone is excited to meet those guys.""
When questioned by media, McVeigh rejected talk of player discontent and said that he liked how the coach remains positive every Monday for the week ahead.
""I think if you go over the years, we had that (rumors) with Sheeds at times as well, but it was never the case; now we’re getting it with Knighta and Essendon get a lot of media attention,"" he said.
""But we’re pretty fortunate that he’s (Knights) very passionate about his players and I know for a fact that he supports us more than anything behind the scenes.
""When a club’s losing, obviously you get pressure on coaching staff, and players, and Knighta’s copping a lot of it at the moment, which I think isn’t fair, because it’s a lot to do with the players as well.""
McVeigh said he is out of contract at the end of the season but is keen to continue.
""They’re doing the right thing at the moment by signing all the young players and that should be their priority, because significant challenges are coming up in terms of two more new teams. I certainly fully understand and respect what they’ve got to do first,"" he said.
