AS KEVIN Sheedy spoke to the media before training at Windy Hill yesterday, a ritual he did not abandon just because his time as an AFL coach might be at an end, the moon was clearly visible in the bright, sunny sky.

Inevitably, it brought to mind a Sheedy story. One cold night at Essendon training, his team struggling, Sheedy told his puzzled playing group to look up at the full moon.

"Have a look at that — people have walked on that thing," he said, "all I'm asking you to do is to play a simple game of football."

It would be fitting to report that a few extra thousand fans flocked to training yesterday afternoon, but the reality is there were only a few hundred.

Those who were there were enthusiastic in their support of Sheedy. His entrance, if not stage-managed, was at least inspired. The players were led onto the ground by Kyle Reimers, a WA draftee yet to play a senior game, then assistant coaches Gary Ayres, Gary O'Donnell and Dean Wallis filed out.

Finally, Sheedy made his entrance. He was applauded by fans as he walked to the media scrum, in the manner of the hope of the side striding to the wicket.

Someone cried out: "Don't talk to them (the media), Kevin, they started it all." Another voice chimed in: "Sack the board, not Kevin."

Nor did he take a back seat once training started. "Good mark," he bellowed to Scott Lucas as the big man plucked a ball that looked to be going over his head one-handed. "For you, anyway," he added, as Lucas jogged off with a grin on his face.

At Windy Hill, the phones were running hot, the ears of both the switchboard operator and his long-time personal assistant, Jeanette Curward, were burning, Sheedy said.

Across town at Punt Road Oval, Richmond's switch also went into meltdown as Tigers fans still living the dream of the prodigal son's return rang to suggest Sheedy take over from Terry Wallace.

Cyberspace was crowded, too. An Essendon fan site had 15 pages of messages, overwhelmingly in support; a Richmond one logged a similar number.

As the players completed their warm-up, Colin Hooper did what he always does. He made sure there were enough footballs to go round, then started working with individual players on their ball-handling.

Hooper is the only member of the club staff who has been at Windy Hill throughout Sheedy's 27 years. He worked under Des Tuddenham, Bill Stephen and Barry Davis before that. The number of times he has kicked a ball to a player at close range runs into the hundreds of thousands.

"Hoops" puts Kevin Sheedy's contribution simply. "He taught us how to win." His greatest asset? "His loyalty to people."

Ironically, the first thing Sheedy did on arrival was to relieve Hooper of the runner's job.

"He brought Peter Power with him, so I was used as the second runner. It was against the rules. We got fined, but he'd say, 'Don't worry about that'."

Hooper, 70, has been at Windy Hill 36 years and wants to stay. If he goes, he said, "I'll find out where Sheeds is going, and go there."