Bomber fans beware. The Western Bulldogs are ready to burst the Essendon bubble. That was the message from Kevin Sheedy today as his side aims to stretch their winning streak to five games this Friday night at the Dome. ""We’ve got the Bulldogs coming up and they’re hot to trot at the moment. They’ll be really on a high coming off the win in Canberra,"" warned the Bomber coach.
""It looks like they’re hunting at the moment so we are going to have to keep our mind right on this game,"" indicated Sheedy.
""It’s their (home) game and from what I’ve read in the press and heard over there, this is a big game for them. We’ve just got to make sure that we get back and play well,"" he said.
Last week against Sydney the Bombers ran out of steam late in the match. A 41-point advantage early in the last quarter was wilted away to a 10-point victory. In contrast, the Bulldogs came home with a wet sail in the final term, to over power the Kangaroos and win by a point.
A lapse of concentration like that again this weekend could see James Hird and his men pay dearly.
""We had the game under control but I just thought, in all fairness to the other players, we probably wanted to get the two Johnson’s off. They have been out for quite some time and I’ve seen it happen before where players do a hamstring late in a game,"" the coach said.
The Bombers do have the luxury of a near injury free playing list. With Damian Cupido, Mark McVeigh and Jobe Watson all returning from injury and regaining form with the Bendigo Bombers, the selection committee has some tough decisions to make.
With a side that has won its past four games it is hard to find a player to drop. Who makes way for the drive of McVeigh, the skill of Cupido and the athleticism of Watson? Only Sheedy knows.
""They’ll (McVeigh, Cupido and Watson) be looked at. In the VFL they actually got beat last week, but players have had good form up until that match and a couple did perform well in that game,"" highlighted Sheedy.
""It’s touch and go whether he’ll (McVeigh) come in this week. We’re trying to give players at least a couple of games (to get fit).
""He (Cupido) went down to Tasmania and played very well at a half back flank, which is very, very good,"" said Sheedy. ""He hasn’t played a lot there for us and he’s been back in training for quite some time, so he’s a fair chance that he may come back in.""
Essendon will enter the clash against the Bulldogs with almost a full playing list, a fact envied by most clubs in the AFL and a weapon Kevin Sheedy and his selection committee are ready to exploit. The Bombers are injury free apart from Joel Reynolds (glandular fever) and Courtney Johns (hip) on the long-term injury list and Ben Haynes is three weeks away from returning from a thigh injury.
