Hird said there were some positives to come out of the losses to West Coast and Fremantle.
“This time of the NAB Cup is a really exciting time to give our new players a chance and we played all but one of our draftees this weekend,” Hird said.
“Obviously it wasn’t a great result in terms of wins and losses but it gave our kids a chance to have a go on the big stage and see how far they have to come.”
Hird was happy with the debut of 22-year old rookie Cory Dell’Olio who booted a goal in each game and looked lively up forward.
“Cory is hopefully a bit of a find for us and was really good,” he said.
“His ability to kick goals was fantastic, was good above his head for his size and put some good pressure on so we were very happy with him.”
The performance of defender Courtenay Dempsey, returning from a long term knee injury, was a major boost for the Bombers.
“Courtenay is a pretty relaxed kind of guy and took it in his stride,” Hird said.
“We need to get four or five games into him to continue to get his confidence back but I thought he was pretty good.”
