Essendon's opening round clash of the Ansett Cup is just three days away and the club has made it clear it means business.

The Bombers tackle West Coast in Darwin this Friday night it what promises to be a tight contest.

While Essendon is pumped, West Coast players will also be keen to impress new coach Ken Judge in his first official match as new coach of the club.

Essendon football manager Matthew Drain made it clear the Bombers were out to play good football this weekend when he spoke on Bomber Radio last Sunday night.

"We are certainly going to Darwin to win a game of football," Drain said. "You can't afford to go in any other way - I think there were lessons to be learned from what happened in the Millenium game."

An under-prepared Collingwood suffered an embarrassing loss in the Millenium match against Carlton. Essendon is very keen to start 2000 on the right note.

Essendon and West Coast have been drawn in group four of the revamped competition along with Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs.

The Bombers remaining two matches of the preliminary rounds are against Western Bulldogs on Friday, February 4 at Waverley and Hawthorn on Sunday, February 14.

The team which tops the group will advance to the semi-finals of the competition. It is likely sides will have to remain undefeated to finish on top of their groups and guarantee they progress in the competition.

The semi-finals of the competition will be held on Friday, February 18 and Saturday, February 19 with the grand final to be played on Saturday, February 26.

Essendon will be without 1999 Crichton Medallist and runner-up in the Brownlow Medal Mark Mercuri for the opening match.

Mercuri had an arthroscope on his knee post-season and while recovering well, he will not be considered for the match.

A number of youngsters are vying for a position in the final squad of 28 which will head to Darwin.

Among them is the Bomber's first draft pick David Hille - a tall ruckman who has shown some promise in the pre-season intra-club matches.

Robert Forster-Knight (pick 72) is another to show up in pre-season and he too may have earned himself a trip to Darwin.

With rookies allowed to play in the Ansett Cup competition, youngster Corey McGrath is also in line for selection.

McGrath is strong and quick and although he still has plenty to learn, he looks to have a big future.

The question on everyone's lips is whether or not James Hird will play against West Coast.

The club's medical and coaching staff are ecstatic with his progress thus far but the match committee is still to decide whether he will play.

He has played a half in both the intra-club matches played to this stage.

The final squad for the match will be named Wednesday morning and will be on this site the moment it comes to hand.