Essendon will be looking to bolster its ruck stocks throughout the trade and free agency period.

When Tom Bellchambers succumbed to a foot problem midway through 2015, the Bombers big man division was tested.

Shaun McKernan, Jonathan Giles, Joe Daniher and Jake Carlisle all filled the void at various points in the season.

List and Recruiting Manager Adrian Dodoro said adding a ruck man to the list would be beneficial.

“We think that Tom Bellchambers has got a lot of good footy in front of him,” Dodoro told Trade Radio.

“He’s been restricted by some injuries over the last couple of years.  

“He wants a ruck partner and losing Paddy Ryder left a bit of a hole in our ruck division. 

“We’d like to bring another ruckman in.” 

Brisbane’s Matthew Leuenberger is one big man the Bombers have made contact with. 

“He’ll think about it over the weekend, I spoke to him yesterday,” Dodoro said.

“We’re pretty keen to get him to Essendon, but by the same token we understand there is a couple of clubs that might be looking at him.

“We’ve spoke to Paul Connors (Leuenberger’s Manager), they’ve got a few things they want to weigh up.  

"We’d like a decision sooner rather than later but pretty soon I think we’ll know.”