A hamstring injury to Essendon ruckman Matthew Leuenberger is likely to force the Bombers into round one without a recognised ruckman available.
It is likely forward-ruck Shaun McKernan will be forced to fill the vacant ruck position with James Stewart and Patrick Ambrose potential back-ups.
With Tom Bellchambers on the recovery trail following knee surgery in January, Bombers coach John Worsfold admitted his options were limited.
"We're a bit light on there [in the ruck] but McKernan battled on pretty well," Worsfold said.
McKernan rucked well in the 22-point loss to the Cats, kicking three goals and picking up 21 possessions and James Stewart helped out, but Leuenberger's injury is a concern for the Bombers.
He hurt the hamstring early in the first quarter in Bendigo and remained on the sidelines iced up for the rest of the game.
Worsfold said the early prognosis was that it was not a bad hamstring injury but he was yet to know how long he might miss.
"It's not ideal but we will do the absolute best that we can," Worsfold said.
He said he had confidence in McKernan's capacity to fill the role as he had played there before.
Essendon will need to elevate McKernan from the rookie list to make him eligible to play in round one.
The Bombers hope Cale Hooker, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, will play in the VFL on Friday night to give himself a chance to be included for round one and have not ruled out Bellchambers having a hit-out in that game too.
Worsfold is confident Hooker has done enough work to play against Hawthorn in the season opener if he gets through Friday night's game against the Cats.
"He'll be fit. He just won't have a lot of game time or match play under his belt," Worsfold said.
The Bombers coach said the team had performed well during the pre-season with only lapses within games costing them victory.
He said the forward line looked exciting with Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti's four goals against the Cats another sign the Bombers had a talented bunch inside 50 who could cause damage if they were given opportunity.
"The forward line is coming along well," Worsfold said.
Worsfold said the Bombers were looking forward to kicking off the season and were in good spirits with the clash against Hawthorn one of the most anticipated games in round one.
