Hope amid hype

ESSENDON forward Joe Daniher is in the mix to make a surprise return for one of the Bombers’ two pre-season matches after making big strides forward in his recovery from osteitis pubis in recent weeks.

The 24-year-old, who has not played since Round 7 last season, trained strongly again yesterday through a series of kicking, marking and agility drills and moved freely during a short session of match simulation.

Teammate Tom Bellchambers said he would not be surprised to see Daniher feature in one of Essendon’s two JLT Series matches, which are scheduled against Carlton next Thursday night and Geelong on March 7.

“We’ve probably seen him [Daniher] over the last fortnight, three weeks now, come along really well,” Bellchambers said.

“He’s on track for where his program’s at, he’s been involved in a bit of match play and it’s obviously good to see him running around with a smile on his face.

“It’s a conservative approach with Joe, obviously being a long-term injury. But off the last couple of weeks I’d reckon he’d be hoping to play some JLT.”

Captain Dyson Heppell (hamstring tendinitis) watched on from the sidelines yesterday and is not expected to return to full training for at least another week. Greater Western Sydney recruit Dylan Shiel and defenders Andrew McGrath and Michael Hurley completed some extra work as they prepare to play in Friday night’s AFLX tournament.

Essendon’s other AFLX participant, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, is in Adelaide for the AFL/AFLPA Indigenous All Stars Summit.

Bellchambers said the Bombers had to embrace the lofty expectations surrounding them this year, after finishing last season with a 10-4 record from their last 14 games.

“You’ve got to embrace that hype,” Bellchambers said.

“We finished off the season quite well … but in saying that, it doesn’t mean too much.

“We need to continue to build on what we served up the last half of last year and we’re really confident [that] with the pre-season we’ve put in place we’re going to come out firing.”