""I got a call from the media last night and Geoff Poulter from the Herald Sun and he told me Damien had made a couple of comments about our tactics and how Port Adelaide are super smart and super slick in a lot of areas. I thought to myself I will give a little bit back which I did - I couldn't help myself,"" Sheedy said.
""Tactics are the sort of thing you can either go with or you don't. Some clubs just like to play with a bit of passion and a bit of spirit. But gee whiz, Damien's last three years at Essendon were a Premiership, a Grand Final and a Preliminary Final loss by a point so we couldn't have been too bad.""
Sheedy said that if Hardwick wanted to throw some mud at Essendon then he was only too happy to give as good as the club got. ""I came from the school of hard knocks and if someone wants to throw a couple of right hooks at us then just be pepared for a couple of left jabs. You are not going to let people stand over you whether that be a previous player or previous coach,"" Sheedy said.
""Port Adelaide haven't made a Grand Final yet. At the present time they have probably got a little bit more experience than us but they still haven't got to a Grand Final and that is what it is all about. You have got to get to a Grand Final to give yourself the chance to win a Premiership. We are a fair way ahead in that department,"" Sheedy said.
Sheedy said he expected Hardwick would go into defence tonight, pick up the youngest player and try and physically intimidate them. ""He'll try and belt the youngest player around and everyone will be watching, hissing and booing and all the cameras will be on him,"" Sheedy said. ""But we will just be trying to match it with Port - Kevin Morris, Robert Shaw and Mark Harvey - we will see what we can come up with. We will have that article placed inside the rooms and in the coaches box.""
""Damian will try and find the weakest link in our forward line - whoever Damien picks up, well he is suggesting that player is one of our weakest,""Sheedy said.
