Essendon coach Matthew Knights has promised there will be "no holding back" in Saturday’s intra-club practice match at Casey Fields oval. "This is our first intra-club practice match after a long pre-season and I want the players to crank it right up, including the senior players," he said.

"I want them to have a really good hit out and see where they are at – it will be a good test of the playing group."

Knights said two teams of 22 players will play a full scale match with up to eight Bendigo listed players also taking part.

"This is an opportunity for the players to spend a sustained period under match conditions and have a searching hit out," he said.

"It’s an important practice to help get the players prepared for the following week when we play our first NAB Cup game against Brisbane.

"Everyone that is fit to play will play right from the senior guys to the newest recruits but a few players - including Jobe Watson, Jason Winderlich, Darcy Daniher and Jay Neagle - will be rested as they continue rehabilitation from injury.

"Saturday will be a great opportunity for the fans to see not only the guys we took in national draft but also the pre-season and rookie drafts.

"Our top draft pick last year (number 6 overall), David Myers, will play and will play lots of minutes as will Tayte Pears and Cale Hooker who will play key roles in the game. I think the fans will enjoy seeing them move around the ground in the flesh.

"Other young players like Jarrod Atkinson and Rhys Magin, who are both in contention for the NAB Cup, will also run around this weekend so fans will enjoy seeing where our players are at.

"It will be great for an Andrew Lee, who might play on Dustin Fletcher, because he has taken a big step forward in pre-season and will now get to see how that translates in a game against one of the league’s best defenders.

"Young defenders like Danny Chartres and Pears will take on Scott Lucas and Matthew Lloyd so that is wonderful exposure for those young men. They are right in the mix to play in the NAB Cup and the intra-club clash will give them a good lead in having played against quality players.

"A couple of young midfielders like Bachar Houli and Kyle Reimers will go against Brent Stanton and Mark McVeigh and this will be a great opportunity for them to go against seasoned players and see where they are at."

Knights said he had avoided having an intra-club game before now because he wanted the team to focus on game learning.

"We have been walking through our plays and I wanted us to get that right before having practice games," he said.

"I am determined that we get the mechanics of our game plan and style right before we try and execute it which makes Saturday an interesting and important hit-out."