It isn’t quite the real deal but there will still be a genuine sense of excitement when Essendon begins its 2003 Wizard Cup campaign against the Kangaroos at Manuka Oval in Canberra. There will be five new faces in the Essendon side – Damian Cupido, Adam McPhee, Ben Haynes, Jason Laycock and Jobe Watson. New blood always creates excitement around a football club and Bomber fans will be very keen to see what the new boys have to offer.
And fans will also be watching a team that, despite missing some senior regulars, is very keen to perform well. Kevin Sheedy has made that abundantly clear to his players. He wants to progress past the first Round of the pre-season knockout competition. And that will be tough against a near full-strength Kangaroos outfit playing at its defacto home ground. So it would seem that Essendon supporters will get a genuine read on how well their side is going come 5pm this Saturday.
The mid-field and the forward line will be the two areas that will be of serious interest to Essendon supporters. The Bombers defence stood up superbly in 2002 but there were times when the mid-field and forward line simply didn't function to the standard the coaching staff would have liked.
The mid-field will see some different names rotated through it following the departure of Chris Heffernan, Justin Blumfield and Blake Caracella. In the ruck department, Essendon fans will see the promising young Jason Laycock for the first time in a serious game of football. He was outstanding against Sydney and he will want to further push his case for inclusion in the senior side when the real stuff starts.
At ground level, the usual suspects of Joe Misiti, Jason Johnson and James Hird will be in the thick of the action as will Mark McVeigh. Adam Ramanauskas and Mark Johnson will also be given the opportunity to show they are genuine midfield prospects. Adam McPhee, Marc Bullen, Joel Reynolds and Cory McGrath are other midfield options.
So there are many options. They won't slot into among one another perfectly in their first competitive hit out together but they would still like to produce some cohesion. Apart from Damien Peverill and Mark Mercuri the Bombers midfield is virtually at full strength.
The forward line will be even more interesting. Lloyd is back fully fit and is obviously the key player. Just how the Bombers match committee set it up from there will be interesting. Damian Cupido looks the player likely to form a two-pronged set up in the goal square. The half forward line could consist of any number of players - Jobe Watson will probably start across there but you can raffle the rest. It will be most interesting to watch. Given the nine-point rule it wouldn't surprise to see Scott Lucas and Dustin Fletcher roaming around that part of the ground.
So Bomber fans should be really looking forward to this weekend. A win will see Essendon progress to Round 2 where it will take on the winner of Melbourne and Richmond at The Dome. And while a loss will be disappointing it won't be the end of the world. As long as we see some positive signs for the season ahead.
For those of you who can’t watch the game, log onto the website for our live scoring and quarter by quarter updates.
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