Essendon – minus Mark Johnson, Jason Johnson and possibly Dean Solomon – will throw its youngsters into the midfield fire. Ruckman Jason Laycock and midfielders Ricky Dyson, Brent Stanton and Joel Reynolds could start inside the centre square tomorrow night.
Live scoring of tomorrow night's game will be at essendonfc.com.au
""It’s time. It’s time for these young players to stand up and grab the opportunity created by the retirement of Joe Misiti and Mark Mercuri,"" Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said today.
""It is sad when these champions retire but it creates an excitement and an expectation. These players need to stand up and tomorrow night’s game is their first step in that journey.""
The midfield has been a perceived weakness of the Bombers in recent years and Sheedy is more than prepared to admit that it needs some tinkering. He believes the injection of new blood might just be what the side needs.
""We have to redevelop our midfield and the quicker we do that the better. Aggressive young kids who want a career – they might just come on a bit quicker than people think and surprise a few,"" Sheedy said.
""Our younger players know that their time is now. They have been putting it to our 24-year-old and over players in recent weeks and are really keen to get out on the deck and see what they can do.""
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The Essendon players were today put through a rigorous two-hour training session with the Manly Sea Eagles before heading out to visit some hospitals in the local area. The session with Manly included some rigorous tackling drills and a modified game of rugby.
Earlier, Kevin Sheedy and Paul Roos appeared on Channel 7s high-rating Sunrise program and spoke to the local media.
