However, Mark Johnson, Dean Solomon and Jason Johnson are likely to be rested from the match as they fully recover from post-season surgery.
Mark Johnson is looking extremely fit after his shoulder surgery. Johnson is about four weeks from full training, commencing full contact work in early March. However his shoulder operation has not stopped him from completing all the team’s fitness training and he is in very good condition.
Dean Solomon, who had post-season surgery on his thumb, is still 2-3 weeks away from full training. He still has a brace on his hand and can't handle the ball at this stage. He should however be available for the last couple of games in the Wizard Cup or the regional practice matches prior to the season proper.
""The thing to remember about Solomon is that he is flying in terms of his fitness and conditioning."" Football operations manager Dominic Cato said. ""That is a real positive.""
Jason Johnson (hip) has been re-introduced into skills and will be available by the second half of the pre-season competitions.
Courtney Johns (hip) is the only player with a long term injury concerns. He has however made significant progress in recent weeks and has commenced running earlier than expected.
Essendon plays its first intra-club match at Optus Oval this Saturday. The match commences at 10am.
