Sheedy underwent almost three hours of surgery last night to repair a ruptured tendon in his shoulder. The frayed tendon had retracted and the surgery took longer than first expected. Sheedy will now spend a second night in hospital.
""It was a significant operation and he is in a fair bit of pain. He has had that much morphine he is making perfect sense,"" Essendon CEO Peter Jackson quipped.
""He will probably want to be there and want to coach on the weekend but we will do what we would do with any player and seek medical advice before we make a decision. Right now it is likely Gary O’Donnell will have to step into the role.
""Kevin felt that given Gary works so closely with the midfield and that is where most of the action happens on game day, that he was the right man to do the job should he be unable to coach. We don’t rank our assistant coaches in any order, it was just a decision made for those reasons.""
With the contingency plan put in place, O’Donnell will prepare for the rest of the week as if he will assume the role of head coach with the close support of others at the club.
""I have been given that role, but there is also the match committee and Dean Wallis and Gary Ayres who will have big roles as well. It’s just someone to steer the ship,"" O’Donnell explained.
""You put your own spin on it, but when players are used to playing a certain style, under a certain coach it doesn’t change.""
And after sitting in the passenger seat for a number of seasons as an assistant, senior coaching isn't high on O’Donnell’s priority list just at the moment.
""I haven’t necessarily aspired to it, so it will be an interesting situation on the weekend. Maybe it will be something that gives that spur to put my hat in the ring for a job like that.""
To watch the full press conference on Bomber.tv click here.
