Essendon and North Melbourne might be viewed by many as likely to be fighting for finals positions in 2012, but Bombers coach James Hird is looking no further than the clubs' round one meeting at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
Watch the James Hird press conference here on Bomber TV ?
Last year the Bombers scraped into eighth and the Kangaroos narrowly missed a finals berth by finishing ninth.
When asked if this was the sort of game the Bombers needed to win if they were to progress and push up the ladder by the end of the year, Hird smiled. There's a job to do this weekend, and that's what he's worried about.
""We are in the first game of a really long journey, and we are really intent on winning Saturday night,"" Hird said on Friday.
""But I think to look at September in March is a very dangerous proposition. Sides will hit good form, they'll fall away, they'll get injuries, they'll come back to good form.
""It's a long year and we're going to do our best job for Saturday night and not think too far past that. You can't get too star struck on what's going to happen in six months time.""
The Bombers enter the season with a strong line-up, and have added utility Nathan Lovett-Murray to face the Kangaroos after a calf strain ruled him out of most of the NAB Cup. Hird said the 29-year-old's hardness, experience and maturity would benefit a side that needs more of all those elements.
But Hird was also quick to suggest that a club's best team in round one is not usually identical to the best team by season's finish. He wants players to have forced their way into the line-up through performance, and wants the challenge for a spot in the side to remain competitive.
""I think the team you start with in round one is not the team you end with at the end of the year,"" Hird said.
""Teams develop and grow, and we want to get better as the year goes on. I would hope that we're a better team at the end of the year than we are right now.""
Last year the Bombers' quick start to the season came unstuck midway through the year with injuries and a loss of form. Hird said this pre-season had been structured to make the players more durable, and to peak a little later in the campaign. He's ready to see the theory and hard work put into practice.
""We've put a lot of time in our pre-season into hopefully making our side more resilient around injuries, but also setting up our fitness so it's very good now but also carries us through to the end of the year as well,"" he said.
