THIS MONTH...

HARD LESSONS LEARNED BOMBERS TO TAKE ON SAINTS CHANGE THE WAY YOU KEEP ON TOP OF YOUR SPORT! NEW BOMBERLAND FOR 2003 FREE ENGINE ROOM TRIAL PERIOD CELEBRATE THE BOMBERS LAUNCH ON SEASON 2003 BOMBER MAGAZINE PLAYER PROFILE - MATTHEW LLOYD GRAB YOURSELF THE LATEST EFC GEAR CRYSTAL BALL

Essendon assistant coach Mark Harvey said the focus of the next month must be to find some winning form and confidence to take into the Round 1 clash with Brisbane at the Gabba. He said that while the loss to the Kangaroos in the opening round of the Wizard Cup was disappointing, now was not the time to panic.

"It was disappointing but we have to put it in perspective. We learned a lot out of the game and over the next four weeks we will work at getting things right," Harvey said. "We had a few out and the week away didn't help - but that isn't making excuses. We simply have to play a lot better than we did. We went inside 50m 28 times - that must almost be a record low for us."

> Read the full story

BOMBERS TO TAKE ON SAINTS

Essendon has just under one month to get its act together following its thumping loss to the Kangaroos last weekend. And it all begins at Optus Oval this Saturday afternoon when it tackles St Kilda in a practice match. The two first Round losers in the Wizard Cup will want to produce much improved performances in front of their home-town supporters. The match commences at 2.30pm and a number of Essendon players look set to resume.

> Read the full story

CHANGE THE WAY YOU KEEP ON TOP OF YOUR SPORT!

This season 3 is on board as our official sponsor and partner on the road to Grand Final glory. You'll be seeing 3 logos around the grounds and on the team.

For Bomber fans, 3 will change the way you keep on top of your sport. You'll be able to get score updates throughout the game and catch a video of the day's sporting news highlights all on a handset that combines a camera, a phone, a message centre and digital music player.

To find out more about 3, click here to register and they'll send you the latest news and information.

NEW BOMBERLAND WEBSITE FOR 2003!

	Joe Misiti and Matthew Lloyd are regular visitors to BomberLand

With the new season fast approaching, the BomberLand team have been busy putting together a fresh new look, and more content for the official Essendon website for 2003. We have retained a similar layout and navigation to the current website, based on the feedback from users that they found the 2002 site very easy to use. We have a number of great new features which will appear in 2003, including the following:

• enhanced match coverage, including a new match centre to give easy access to recent results and upcoming matches
• new competitions, including Wizard of Windy Hill - a fantasy football competition focused on the Bombers; and Lunchtime Legends, a trivia based competition where you can compete with colleagues or school friends
• a daily guide to what's new on the website
• more opinion and feature articles
• a new login system to allow easy access to all interactive parts of the website

• Match Vision - including video highlights of all Essendon matches
• Off the Long Run - Robert Shaw's new weekly column
• Name that Bomber - a new competition designed to test how well you know the Essendon players
• and more, including Thurling's Thoughts and Bombers Unplugged

ENGINE ROOM FREE TRIAL

If you didn't log on to the Engine Room last week you would have missed 2002 best and fairest winner Mark Johnson's interview in Behind the Scenes, assistant coach Robert Shaw discussing the team's pre-season in the Coach's Corner, draftee Jobe Watson's thoughts on his first game for the Bombers and Mark Harvey's discussion on the importance of speed versus strength in modern day football. But don't despair - there is still over a week to go in the free Engine Room trial period, so sign-up today so you don't miss out. To enter the Engine Room simply use your BomberLand username details (if you don't have one, you can register by following the link below). The free Engine Room trial period finishes on Sunday, March 8th at 11pm.

> Register here as a BomberLand user
> Read more about the Engine Room

Robert Shaw's new Engine Room column - Off the Long Run

Bombers' assistant coach Robert Shaw tackled the hard issues in 2002 in his weekly Engine Room column - For Shaw and Certain. Shaw is back and today brings you his first column for 2003 - THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING... Bob Dylan wrote and sang a famous song back in the 60's...''for the times they are a changing''. For those of us that were in Canberra on the weekend to watch the Kangaroos and the Bombers play, this song reflects the current situation of both clubs. It was in 98, 99 and 2001 that these two clubs literally went to war and put on displays of some of the finest and toughest football seen in decades. It was 'draw a line in the sand' stuff, no quarter was asked and none was given. Both clubs were in peak form as the sun set on the 1990s.

> Read the column

CELEBRATE THE BOMBERS LAUNCH ON SEASON 2003

Come and help the Essendon Football Club celebrate its attack on the forthcoming season at the 2003 Chairman's Season Launch. You can help welcome new recruits Adam McPhee and Damian Cupido to the club and see draftees Jobe Watson, Jason Laycock, Jason Winderlich, Tristan Cartledge and Darren Walsh presented with their guernseys for 2003. You will also hear from our courageous captain, James Hird who will give us the thoughts of the players as we head into the season proper. And of course four-time premiership coach, Kevin Sheedy will also take centre stage. Don't miss a great night!

> Tell me more

BOMBER MAGAZINE The 30th edition of the Bomber magazine is due to hit the shelves at the end of March. It is another bumper edition of the popular EFC magazine, featuring Dean Rioli on the cover. Inside you will get the latest on the Bombers grueling pre-season, read about promising young talent Sam Hunt and catch up with Bomber spearhead Matthew Lloyd's new bride Lisa. There is a great James Hird poster, a kids section and behind-the-scenes stories in the Hangar. To make sure you get this edition of the Bomber Magazine delivered to your doorstop, as well as the other three editions for the year, including the Year Book - purchase the Essendon Connection. > Be connected with the Bombers

PLAYER PROFILE - MATTHEW LLOYD

By Matthew Lloyd's standards he would tell you he had an average year in 2002. However, despite missing eight games due to injury, he still won Essendon's goal kicking award, came ninth in the Coleman medal and took the most contested marks in the team. His performance in his comeback match against the Western Bulldogs in Round 14 was a highlight for the season - he booted five goals and polled the second highest Crichton Medal votes behind skipper James Hird in that game. Season 2002 didn't end on a positive note for Lloyd, he was severely concussed in the first Elimination final against West Coast and subsequently missed the second final against Port Adelaide.

Kevin Sheedy says: Obviously we missed Lloydy when he was out last year - he and Hird head up the forwardline and when he kicks a bag of goals it pleases the fans and himself. We don't need him to kick a hundred goals to win a premiership. 70 - 80 in a premiership team would be fantastic. Alistair Lynch did a great job for Brisbane last year without kicking a ton of goals. As a team we need to address being too "Lloyd conscious" in front of goal by strengthening and focussing on alternative approaches to on the forwardline. Together with James Hird, Matthew demonstrates outstanding leadership on and off the field.

> The full profile

GRAB YOURSELF THE LATEST EFC GEAR

The latest EFC gear has hit the Bomber Shop and according to retail manager Prue Ireland it has been selling exceptionally well. Popular items with Essendon supporters have been the training t-shirt, the new season polo shirt and the fanatics t-shirt. "The new puma clothing has been a big hit so far with the fans. The new clothing lines look fantastic and have been selling well," Ireland said.

> Show me the latest EFC gear

CRYSTAL BALL

We are on the eve of the 2003 AFL season and we can only predict what the football season will bring. Who will dominate the competition? Who will be the new Essendon stars? Where will the Bombers finish on the ladder? All will be revealed by the end of September, but for now it is time to look into your Crystal Ball and tell us what you think will unfold in the 2003 season. The Crystal Ball competition opens next Monday, March 3rd.