Essendon coach James Hird is looking forward to the challenge that awaits his side over the first two rounds of the home and away season.

The Bombers are scheduled to take on grand finalists Sydney and Hawthorn in consecutive weeks to kick off the 2015 season.

Hird is excited by the prospect of tackling the best teams in the competition to kick off 2015.

“We certainly play some quality teams early on with the two grand finalists in round one and two but we are pretty excited about playing them to test ourselves early,” Hird said,

“We have got a big pre-season ahead of us which starts in a couple of days and it is great to see we have some quality opponents early on so there is no bigger challenge.

“We are very excited about it.”

The club has five interstate trips scheduled with two trips to Perth ahead of the bye in round 12.

Hird is confident the experience added to the side in the off-season will play a key role in tackling the road trips throughout the season.

“I think we have played interstate very well over the last few years and we have definitely improved our interstate record,” Hird said,

“The guys are very confortable and we have a lot more experienced team then in the past and I think experience works on the road.

“It is what it is and we can’t wait as we are very excited about the challenge of 2015 and we are looking forward to getting into it.”

Essendon is set for eleven matches during the day, an increase on previous seasons.

“Day games are great because you get to recover better because you are not lying awake at 2 or 3 in the morning,” Hird said.

“We are very happy with the day games, it was a request we had for the day games and it is also a great chance for Essendon families to come along to watch during the day.”

“Saturday afternoon at the G is the time that all players want to play and supporters want to go so we are very excited to be playing games during the dya at the MCG.”