Essendon senior coach Ben Rutten spoke to the media on Friday ahead of the Bombers' round 10 clash with North Melbourne.

Below are the five key takeaways from his media conference.   

1. Selection dilemmas

Forward Alec Waterman has already been confirmed to return for the Bombers’ clash with North Melbourne, while last week's used medical sub Nik Cox will start on the field.

Eight players were selected on the extended bench for Sunday’s fixture, with Nick Bryan, Patrick Ambrose and Ned Cahill all vying for spots following solid VFL form.

With Friday's 5pm selection deadline looming, Rutten said there was much to ponder as he whittles down his final interchange to four players. 

“For us on the weekend, we had a fair few guys play really well in the VFL,” Rutten said.

“It’s a good opportunity to look at and reward some guys in the squad, but we still need to finalise our team.

“We’ve got our main training today, so there’s still a few things to play out before we finalise our team.”

2. Cox’s medical sub role explained 

After starting in all eight games in 2021, first-year gun Nik Cox experienced his first time out of the best 22 when he was managed last week.

The 202cm midfielder was eventually selected as the medical substitution, coming on for all of the fourth quarter following a hamstring injury to Devon Smith.

While many externally pondered why the Dons selected Cox after he was listed as 'managed', Rutten said the medical substitute role was the perfect solution to spare Cox playing another full game, while also continue some form of match fitness.

“We got kind of what we were after,” he said.

“We wanted to lighten ‘Coxy’s’ load a little bit and we weren’t sure what was the best way to do that - whether we gave him a week off - but he was going well enough to play when we needed him.

“I think the way that panned out worked pretty well for us and probably for him as well.”

3. Lamenting lapses

One of the key areas Rutten wants his side to focus on and resolve is its ability to be prone to allowing opposition teams to string goals together.

With the Dons showing clear ability to score - they're ranked fourth for points per game - Rutten said his team needed to demonstrate better defensive efforts to shut sides out of games.

"We need to get our stuff right for four quarters," he said.

"We've kind of struggled with that at times throughout all of our games, little lapses, and we're trying to iron them out as much as we can.

"We want to make sure we get off to a really good start and maintain that pressure on the opposition as long as we can."

4. Belief and confidence from close wins

After enduring three losses under three points to Hawthorn, Sydney and GWS in 2021, Rutten was elated with his side’s ability to grind out a tight win over Fremantle.

The win was a pleasing effort for Rutten, who said one of the main goals for his team this season had been to show grit and determination when a result was on the line.

"I've been (largely) pleased with particularly our ability to stick out the game, compete really hard," he said.

"We've been in some games that we haven't been good enough to win.

"The Freo game was probably a game where they may have had more control of the game for longer, but we were able to find a way to win in the end.

"(It’s) a good quality to have and something our group's spoken about - our ability to hang in there when momentum's against us."

5. Mid-season draft

With June’s mid-season draft fast approaching, the Dons’ list and recruiting team have turned their attention to scouring pathway competitions for suitable talent.

When pressed on whether Essendon would select a ready-made player or a youthful option who would require development, Rutten said it was a decision the club would weigh up. 

“It’s an interesting and unique one with a lot of Victorian kids having not played last season,” he said.

“We’re looking to strengthen our list in whatever way we can really, so our list and recruiting guys are fine-tuning it at the moment, so we’ll have a bit more of a look at what the talent pool looks like and what options we’ll have available.

“It’s (approach) probably two-fold. If we think that we can bring in a more mature body to play straight away, then that’d be great, or there may be an opportunity to pick up a younger guy who we may think will feature higher in the draft (later in the year).”