And joining Hird in the Essendon line up may be Courtney Johns, with the coach continuing to fuel the fire that he may come directly back in to the senior side after two years on the sidelines.
""He could – my word he could, it just depends on whether you want to go that way,"" Sheedy said.
""He will be running out this week, either in the AFL or VFL and no one ever thought he would play footy ever again, it’s a marvellous achievement. We will see how he pulls up after training.
""One thing for sure is it’s probably an opportunity to play him at The Dome if we wanted too because we know that if it bucketed down the roof would be shut and probably help marking players,"" Sheedy indicated.
The game on Sunday afternoon will be vital for the Bombers, but no more important than any other game this season. And according to the coach his team is not too far off the pace of its competitors.
""It is one of the most open years in quite a number of years, but there isn’t a dominant side like Essendon in 2000, so I don’t think you can know what will happen and try and win as many games as you can, as soon as you can.""
""We hit the post five times last week, kicked four out of bounds on the full but we played pretty good footy for most of the game.""
And with the Western Bulldogs in good form, the match on Sunday is poised as another challenge for the Bombers.
""The Bulldogs are playing pretty exciting footy, they have a running, passing game.
""They play usually a tall side, they have a pretty small forward line and they kick the ball about a metre off the ground, and don’t give any other backline the opportunity to get the ball.
""They are number one in just about everything except they aren’t on top of the ladder,"" Sheedy said.
Mark Johnson and Damien Peverill were notable absences from training being rested from the session but are expected to play on the weekend.
