Bomber coach Kevin Sheedy has ruled injured pair Damian Cupido and Mark McVeigh out of this year’s Wizard Cup but said Adam Ramanauskas is likely to play in the Round 1 match against Fremantle. ""There is an opportunity for Ramanauskas to play in the Wizard Cup, but it depends how he comes through. He is looking quite good. It is up to him and the medical staff, we won't be shoving it down his throat. You have six or eight on the bench, so there is an opportunity to play him and get his confidence up over a game like we have in Darwin,"" Sheedy said.

Sheedy said the team is in the best shape it has been in many years heading into the pre-season competition. Essendon hasn't won a Wizard Cup match since winning the grand final against the Kangaroos in 2000. ""We are pretty well placed this time, it is the first time in many years we haven't had a lot of operations and last year we lost a lot of premiership players. I think we will pick a pretty good side to take up to Darwin to play Fremantle,"" the four time premiership coach said.

Dean Wallis' return to Windy Hill as assistant coach has proved to be a successful move to date. Sheedy said the dual premiership player has settled in well and is enjoying being back at the club. ""He has gone out and got two years experience, which has been good for him. The two years that I did at Richmond was very good for me and important for me for my opportunity later on. He has done that at St.Kilda, which is good for us.

""He will be our defensive coach and at the moment has probably taken most of the drills at training. He has done the bulk of the coaching before Christmas and he and Kevin Morris have been working heavily on the development of our younger players,"" Sheedy said.

David Hille and Dean Rioli are two players that have caught Sheedy's eye this pre-season. Sheedy said Hille is one of the most improved players that he has seen come through not only in the past 12 months, but also over the pre-season. Sheedy also commented that Rioli is in the best condition he has ever seen him in and put the improvement down to maturity and experience and getting used to the rigours of AFL training. ""We bring these guys in and it can take two to three years to really get into a pattern. Some guys don't get it spot on in the first two or three years but they might be right by their fourth or fifth year,"" Sheedy said.

James Hird is in training despite his broken nose last Wednesday at training. Hird collided with Adam McPhee's elbow in a training drill, which resulted in the break. ""James should send Adam McPhee the account for straightening his nose up,"" Sheedy joked. Hird is not doing any impact work at the moment due to the injury. Purchase a 2004 EFC membership and watch Hird in action this season. Click here for more information.