Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy has put his players on notice - be fair dinkum in tomorrow's intra-club practice match or risk playing your way out of the season opener. Sheedy laid down the law to his players after training last. ""The season is just eight days away - if you blokes think Friday's match doesn't matter then you better wake up,"" Sheedy said. ""I want to put every player on notice right now - there are spots up for grabs for the first game and this match will decide whether or not you play.""

Sheedy said this morning that the team had improved against Richmond at Sandringham last weekend. ""We got better but we certainly can't afford to take a backwards step tomorrow. Sometimes intra-club matches can be like dancing with your sister but we want to maintain our intensity,"" Sheedy said.

The intra-club match is being played at Optus Oval and the match begins at 3.00pm. And the players will know there is a bit on the line. They will get changed in different change rooms and be coached by different coaches reminding them that it is anything but a social outing.