We are all hoping the Bombers are on fire at AAMI Stadium tonight but there were fears that could have literally been the case at the team's hotel at about 8pm yesterday. A dozen Essendon players headed to Adelaide early and were sitting in their hotel rooms when the fire alarms rang and they were hastily evacuated.

Players and other occupants gathered out the front of the hotel while fire crews stormed in to check out the problem. As it turned out there was no real need for concern with a minor electrical fault the reason the alarms went off.

MEANWHILE, the balance of the Essendon team and the coaching staff arrived in Adelaide at around noon today with the waiting media again questioning the Essendon coach regarding his teams’ ability to play outdoor football.

""We have played four games outside this season. We have won three in a row at the MCG in the sleet, rain and cold – you really can’t do much better than that. We played in front of big crowds and beat a couple of good sides.""

The next mandatory question was about the Bomber’s poor record on the road

""You can’t blame many of the players who are here – a lot of them didn’t play in a lot of those recent games,"" Sheedy said. ""We have been hammered by this all week and it was in the Melbourne papers again today. We’ll just come out and play our best footy and play the best game we have played in Adelaide for a while.""

""This would be one of the strongest sides we have brought over here in recent years. We have probably lost half a team since 2000 / 2001.""

The Bombers can put both issues to rest with a win tonight.