Bomber coach Kevin Sheedy said this afternoon that he wouldn’t want Essendon Football Club board members coming into the rooms at half-time and speaking to his players. Sheedy was responding to suggestions that Hawthorn board member Dermott Brereton had spoken to his players during the main break last Saturday and allegedly incited the third-quarter brawl.

""Dermie is just a frustrated player and we all can get like that. His team is on the bottom of the ladder and enough is enough. In the end I wouldn’t want anyone to come to my rooms and tell my players what to do,"" Sheedy said.

""We have never had anyone come down over the past 23 years at Essendon telling our players how to play footy. I respect the board for doing that. But that being said, we haven’t won two games in half a season.""

Sheedy conceded he hadn’t yet had the time to sit down and have a good look at what transpired during the match but said he couldn’t comment anyway given the AFL investigation.

""I haven’t seen the game yet to be honest…I haven’t seen the brawl yet, but I will be sitting home tonight to watch it,"" he said. ""It was one of those situations that happened in a game and the AFL are investigating it. Nothing else can be said about it from my point of view because I haven’t seen in.

""It is a physical game. Players are annoyed and frustrated and I think the frustration is the issue that creates players that remonstrate. It is not what you want but sometimes it happens. There is nothing I can do or say that is going to make any change of direction of what the AFL are going to do, so why would I even waste my energy.""

Please note: Essendon members that are not reserved seat holders need to purchase a reserved seat for Saturday night’s match as it is a reserved seat-ticketed match. Non-members wishing to attend the game must also pre-purchase a ticket-reserved seat to gain entry. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster7 on 136100.