Ramanauskas, 23, has not played since Round 18 last season when underwent a course of radiotherapy to treat a low grade cancer in his neck and shoulder region. He has been on a modified pre-season training program for much of the past few months but he now has his fitness at a level where he can return to football. ""He has been cleared to play, so I can't see any reason why he wouldn't,"" Sheedy said.
Sheedy did not confirm if Ramanauskas would start on the ground or how much of the match he would play. ""If he gets through a half, he gets through a half. His mental attitude has been absolutely marvellous. No one would like to think they got cancer tomorrow and all of a sudden you have a fight on your hands regarding your life and your health. His family have been marvellous and supported him right through,"" he said.
Ramanauskas is not the only player set to come into the side. Sheedy suggested that there could be up to six changes to the team that beat Fremantle by eight points. Dean Rioli, Aaron Henneman, Joel Reynolds, Mark Alvey and Matthew Allan are all likely to be available for selection. Sheedy might have a few selection headaches this week. He was impressed with the performance of youngsters Tristan Cartledge, Jobe Watson, Kepler Bradley, Jason Winderlich and Brent Stanton and is keen to continue playing them as well.
Sheedy was impressed with draftee Bradley's form on Saturday night, but not enough to convince him to start the lanky 18-year old on Brisbane's star centre half forward Jonathan Brown. Brown was in sensational form yesterday against Hawthorn and kicked five goals ""It would be a big ask for him - Brown is a superstar. We probably won't play Bradley on him, but he would want to. He tries his butt off, he is probably one of the best kids you would see trying to really be a good player. Maybe Bolton or Henneman will start on him,"" Sheedy said.
IN other news from training, Sheedy reconfirmed his thoughts on the Wizard Cup rule that limits the number of messages a runner can give to five per quarter. ""It is ridiculous. There was a one point difference in the game and I think I had one message to go,"" he said. ""When you have 17 and 18 year old players on the ground, you need to coach them throughout a game and we felt a strain in that area.""
However, it is not all bad from the AFL. Sheedy was a big fan of the cool rooms that Essendon and Fremantle used to cope with the heat and humidity in Darwin. ""The cooling rooms were a great invention in Darwin by the AFL. They were sensational for the coaches as well as the players.""
