“Everyone has to work on something, and I have things to work on as well,” he said.
“Obviously my speed, I need to work a bit on my endurance as well.
“I’m obviously not the quickest bloke, but I like to make up for it in other areas.”
But speed isn’t everything, and Sheed doesn’t have to look any further and one of his new team mates to find proof that you can be an AFL star without possessing blistering pace.
Matt Priddis was overlooked by AFL recruiters, noting his lack of pace, but the Eagles gave him a chance in the 2006 Rookie Draft and have been rewarded with one of the most consistent performers in the competition.
“I just want to follow Matt Priddis and a few of those blokes around and do exactly what they do,” Sheed said.
“We’ll see what happens, obviously it’s a long pre-season, so we’re just going to have to wait and see.”
Sheed showed the football world what he could do at the National 18’s carnival in June this year, tearing apart Victoria Metro at Simonds Stadium, gathering 29 disposals, six clearances and booted four goals, and eventually took out the Larke Medal as the best player at the carnival.
But Sheed’s season would also end that day, with a broken collarbone bringing a premature end to his season, and potentially sliding him down the draft order.
“It was obviously pretty difficult not being able to play, I felt I still had a lot to prove and a lot to give,” said Sheed.
“So disappointing, but we’re over that now and looking forward to this year.
“I didn’t play as much football (as I would have liked), which could have dropped me down the draft order, I don’t know.
“I’m happy now where I am, and extremely excited about the opportunity.”
The Eagles head into 2014 with optimism, as stars such as Nic Natanui, Shannon Hurn, Luke Shuey and Beau Waters all on track to return in round one fully fit and healthy.
Sheed is hopeful he can join them in the opening game, but understand there’s a lot of work to do between now and then.
“I’ll hopefully be a part of it,” he said.
“But the season’s still a long way away, but we’ll see what happens.
“A lot of the boys are all up and going now, ‘Nic Nat’ and that are all not injured.
“Hopefully it can stay that way and we can make the finals.”
