All Australian fullback Dustin Fletcher is looking forward to having close mate Mark Mercuri in the backline with him tomorrow night against Fremantle. The dual premiership teammates have spent the majority of their careers at opposite ends of the ground. ""I haven’t actually played with Mercs yet in defence, but we have trained together. He is a very handy player to have next to you – it is only a few years ago he finished second in the Brownlow Medal so you can put him down back any time if you ask me,"" Fletcher said.

Essendon flew into Darwin last night and has spent today settling into the hot and humid conditions. Fletcher doesn’t believe the weather will affect the Bombers’ performance and dismissed the suggestion that Fremantle is better acclimatised to the Darwin climate. ""They might have a bit of an advantage but that is only a minor thing in our books. We have trained hard so it isn’t something that is playing on our minds. Plus it is a different sort of heat up here, more humid than Perth or Melbourne,"" he said.

""We had a team meeting earlier. I think it is a 50-50 game. Fremantle have been training in the heat but it has been pretty hot in Melbourne as well. It will be a good hit-out for both sides. The papers want to pump up the payback angle but we haven’t been mentioned it. We are about getting the young players out there and getting some system in our play,"" he said.

Essendon will head into the first round Wizard Cup match without a number of quality players. Mark McVeigh, Damian Cupido, Dean Solomon, Adam Ramanauskas, Mark Alvey, Matthew Allan, Ben Haynes and Courtney Johns are all sidelined with injury. Despite the absentees, Fletcher is confident the team has what it takes to win the cut-throat match.

""No doubt it would be nice to win a game on the road even if it is in Darwin and the Wizard Cup. I think we have got a reasonable side in despite some players being injured. It will be good to see how players like Justin Murphy, Kepler Bradley, Brent Stanton go in this game,"" he said. ""I think to win on the road is very important for the young guys. The older guys have all done it but the young players need to experience winning on the road.

Essendon’s record in the Wizard Cup in the last few years has been ordinary. The team hasn’t won a pre-season match since the 2000 grand final. Fletcher made no secret of the fact that the team is keen to do well in the pre-season competition this year. ""The years we have done well in the pre-season competition we have done well in the season itself so we certainly want to play well and win,"" Fletcher said.