""Harvs has been onto me about being more attacking with my footy rather than being totally defensive player. He wanted me to give us a little extra going forward,"" Peverill said. ""I have been able to do that a bit this season but it has probably meant that my opponent has got a few more possessions than they normally would, so I still need to find the mix in there somewhere.""
Peverill has felt the extra pressure in the middle in recent weeks with the absence of Mark and Jason Johnson with injury. ""We have had to rely a fair bit on Hirdy for the first three weeks and he would rack up his 30, 33 touches. It was good on Friday night that the other guys stood up and Hirdy didn’t have to play such a big role in us getting over the line. We do need to get a more even spread in the midfield,"" he said.
After Essendon's dismal performance in Round 1 the team has steadily improved over the past three weeks. The club now sits in ninth possession with an even win loss ratio. ""It is a lot more enjoyable when you are winning. After the Adelaide trip we were shocked about how badly we played that day. It was one of those days whatever you tried nothing went right. You felt helpless out on the footy field and it was an embarrassing two hours. The last two weeks have definitely been a lot more enjoyable,"" Peverill said.
The win last Friday night against Carlton was a good way to celebrate Kevin Sheedy’s 800th AFL game (251 as player at Richmond and 459 as coach of Essendon). Peverill said Hird and Mark Harvey used the fact that is was Sheedy’s milestone as extra motivation before the game.
""Sheeds is a loyal guy and he has been great to me and gave me a game when no one else thought I was good enough. He has helped me out and guys like Dean Rioli, Mark Johnson and Nathan Lovett-Murray who wouldn’t have got a chance without his support and his belief that we could handle it at the elite level, where everyone else said we wouldn’t be good enough. It was good to get the win for Sheeds,"" Peverill said.
