Essendon assistant coach Dean Wallis says captain James Hird will line up as will vice captain Matthew Lloyd and best and fairest winner Adam McPhee. The only players certain to miss at this stage are Mark Johnson, who is coming of shoulder surgery, and David Hille who is still recovering from a rolled ankle.
""From a coaching point of view, we need to go with the best side available from here on in because the real stuff is only three weeks away,"" Wallis said. ""We need to get these players working together so we are right to go when we play Melbourne in Round 1.""
The result from last Saturday looked very ordinary on paper but Essendon fans are aware it was a vastly undermanned side that took the field. Wallis believes most fans also understand what the coaching staff is working on at this time of year.
""For the first couple of weeks we were identifying which new players have made real progress and are ready to play senior football,"" Wallis said. ""And we have got a few blokes that have done that, in particular Brent Stanton.""
""I know some people have questioned what we did (in Morwell) but it is a very fine line you tread. If you play all the practice matches, all home and away games and hopefully a couple of finals, you could play in excess of 30 games. Selection at this time of year is also a welfare issue – we want our best players fit and in form when it matters most.""
