""He is probably 70/30. There is always a risk if you go down that track,"" Sheedy explained before training today.
""A lot probably depends on how he trains this week. But Hird is one of those players who could come into my office and say he’s right to play, so you have to take that into consideration.""
And while the match committee would welcome Hird back into the side, the club is looking towards the future and finding a side that can win matches without his services.
""I thought Hird would most likely play probably 18 games for the year, pretty similar to last year and he would be happy with that.
""We have worked hard to get a list of players together to try and go somewhere in the next few years.
""We always try to achieve that, but getting some experienced players into the club has helped. Heffernan and Camporeale were steps in the right direction from that point of view.""
And while Sheedy is buoyant after a round one win, he remains wary of playing an opposition that was defeated comfortably on the weekend.
""They are coming off a loss down in Geelong, so it is going to be tough game for us up in Brisbane. We have just got to be aware if we can get back and play consistently - which is something that has let us down - then that’s the next step we have to go to.
""It will be different up in Brisbane, it was a pretty average day in Geelong, a bit of rain and a bit of wind all of those sort of things that your not going to get at the Gabba.""
Meanwhile, Henry Slattery has been charged with a Level Two striking offence against Jude Bolton, Sydney, during the third quarter Saturday night’s match.
He can accept a reprimand and 93.75 points toward his future record with an early plea. The incident was assessed as reckless conduct (two points), low impact (one point), in play (no points) and high contact (two points).
This is a total of five activation points, which relates to Level Two offence, drawing 125 demerit points and a reprimand. He has no applicable good or bad record. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to a reprimand and 93.75 points towards his future record.
Watch the full press conference from today in Bomber.tv
