If White-Line Fever was a legitimate illness then Damien Hardwick is a very sick man. He has been suffering from it since the day a football was first put in his hands. The primary symptom is an insatiable appetite for the football and a complete disregard for one's own safety in pursuit of it. The secondary symptom is a complete disregard for the safety of anyone in an opposition guernsey who has the football or gets in your way. And most importantly it is contagious and the Essendon coaching panel don't want to find the cure.

Hardwick is a fierce footballer who loves the heat of battle. It is why he finds it so hard to watch his teammates run around without him. A calf injury in the first five minutes of the Bombers round 11 match against St Kilda saw him spend the whole night on the bench and he also missed the following week against Adelaide. The bye has seen him go another week without football and it is hardly surprising that he is jumping out of his skin.

""Some players were happy when the bye came around because they needed the break. I hadn't played that much football in the two weeks leading up to the game so I would have been happy to keep playing - I'm pretty keen to get back into it this weekend,"" Hardwick said. ""I get frustrated when I'm injured but I am no different to any other footballer in that regard.""

Hardwick is undoubtedly one of the stars of the current Bomber side - a leader in the back half whose uncomprimising style sets an example for everyone around him. ""I certainly don't think I play the game harder than anyone else in the side,"" Hardwick said. ""You hear a lot of people say such and such is soft etc... it's just rubbish. Anyone who plays AFL football will put their body on the line when they have to.""

But Essendon defensive coach Mark Harvey casts Hardwick's modesty aside. ""I have played with and against a lot of tough players and have coached some as well - Damien Hardwick is as hard as any player I have ever seen,"" Harvey said. ""Players like him just make those around him feel 10 feet tall - he's terrific. Acts of courage are contagious.""

""But his contribution to the side is growing - it is now more than the example he sets. You will often see him pointing and barking orders. He gives us real direction in defence and that is something that comes with experience. He has played a fair bit of football now and it is a quality that naturally evolves.""