Kevin Sheedy spent more than two hours on Thursday at AFL club Melbourne as he tries to continue his legendary coaching career.

Sheedy is among five candidates for the senior coaching position at the Demons, along with former Fremantle coach Chris Connolly, current Melbourne caretaker coach Mark Riley, Hawthorn assistant Damien Hardwick and Port Adelaide assistant Dean Bailey.

The Essendon coach met with club officials at Melbourne's headquarters in the MCG.

He will be back there on Sunday to coach the Bombers against Richmond, a game which will attract more than 80,000 fans.

Essendon is using the game to pay tribute to Sheedy and James Hird, who will retire at the end of the season.

The Bombers announced last month that they would not offer Sheedy a new contract, meaning his 27-year tenure ends in the next few weeks.

Unless Essendon makes the finals, Sunday's game will be the last time Sheedy and Hird are part of a Bombers game in Melbourne.

The other four candidates will have similar meetings with Melbourne next week and an announcement on the new coach is expected soon after.

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