“But if I don’t feel 100% tomorrow I won’t play. I learned some lessons in last years Grand Final – looking back the side would have been better having someone else who could get a kick,” Hird said. “If you go into a match trying to carry an injury you don’t let yourself down – you let your teammates down.” Hird spent the second half of last week’s match against Carlton on the bench because of groin soreness.
An MRI scan has subsequently revealed he has some tendonitis. If Hird does miss this tomorrow’s Elimination Final he is expected to have fully recovered by the following weekend should Essendon advance. “I’d be pretty certain I would play next week if we do get through – the medical staff think a break of that length would ensure it was properly healed,” Hird said.
Hird also said he didn’t think this week’s passing of Dick Reynolds would distract the team. “We are all aware of what he meant to the club – he really was the heart and soul – but it is not as if a lot of the players knew him that well. Having said that I think this side will want to play well for him. I’m sure Dick would just want us to get on with the job and try and win this game of football,” he said.
Hird said Essendon was under no illusion that it faced a very difficult job against the Eagles this weekend. “They have McIntosh and Jakovich at one end, exciting forwards in Phil Matera and Troy Wilson at the other and a mid-field that is running very hot. We know just how big a job we have on our hands but I’m confident we can do it,” Hird said.
