West Australian draftees Leroy Jetta and Scott Gumbleton could experience their first taste of AFL football in front of a home crowd after being named in the squad of 28.
Mark Johnson, Ricky Dyson, Jay Neagle and Heath Hocking have also come into the squad of 28 while Richard Cole, James Hird, Nathan Lovett-Murray and Scott Lucas have been rested.
The Essendon squad is:
1. Mark Johnson
2. Ricky Dyson
3. Scott Gumbleton
4. Jobe Watson
6. Angus Monfries
7. Leroy Jetta
8. Jason Winderlich
10. Mark McVeigh
11. Damien Peverill
12. Andrew Welsh
13. Andrew Lovett
15. Courtenay Dempsey
16. Kepler Bradley
18. Matthew Lloyd
19. David Hille
20. Henry Slattery
21. Courtney Johns
22. Mal Michael
23. Mark Bolton
24. Brent Stanton
26. Chris Heffernan
27. Jason Laycock
29.. Alwyn Davey
30. Patrick Ryder
31. Dustin Fletcher
34. Jay Neagle
39. Heath Hocking
43. Bachar Houli
