""It’s the 20th of January, and I don’t think I have ever played a match this early, but for what it is worth it was good to have one,"" Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said this morning.
With the Bombers first competitive match only three weeks away when they play an extremely talented Indigenous All-Stars side in Darwin, Sheedy was quite pleased with the standard his players displayed over today’s four twenty minute quarters.
""It wasn’t too bad actually,"" he explained.
""We have nothing to judge it on because there are not many matches around on the 20th of January, so it was pretty good.
""It was a mock pressure match so it wasn’t a full scale match but it’s the first step to look at our coaching, to look at our talent and see where are we going.
""We have got to make sure we find out what we have to teach our players as quick as we can.""
Thirty-six players participated this morning and all got through the match without injury in the balmy conditions. Jason Winderlich was busy, getting his hands on the ball a number of times and looking focused on a big year after his 2006 season was prematurely ended with a broken leg, while Mark McVeigh also showed some touch with some sleek foot skills.
Other impressive performers included Scott Lucas who kicked five goals in an intriguing duel with Kepler Bradley and new recruit Alywn Davey who booted three goals of this own to show signs he will be an important goal sneak.
Matthew Lloyd and James Hird were both spectators for today’s game, but Sheedy conceded Lloyd was a close to playing this morning after suffering some hamstring tightness but erred on the side of caution and will most likely join in full training again on Wednesday.
