Essendon assistant coach Robert Shaw said the coaching panel is likely to make a few changes to the team that defeated Geelong by six goals. Steve Alessio was relegated to the Bendigo Bombers last weekend and is a favourite to return to the seniors. ""We probably won't make a lot of changes but we will consider bringing Alessio back into the side. It is still a risk only going with one genuine ruckman. Coming up in the next two weeks we have Adelaide and Brisbane who play the two big ruckman, so we have to get Alessio into the side,"" Shaw said.
After debuting last Friday night Jobe Watson is no certainty to retain his place in the team. ""We would love to give him (Watson) one more go but you have blokes like Ted Richards who have been fantastic in the VFL. He will certainly be in the mix again and we would love to play him but we have to look at blokes that have done very well in the reserves.""
St.Kilda hasn't beaten Essendon since Round 8 1999, but it is a much improved Saints team that will face the Bombers tomorrow night. ""St.Kilda have improved significantly since last season. They have had a bad last few weeks but they were very undermanned against Port Adelaide and probably should have won last week apart from the six minute burst from Melbourne - apart from that it was an even game. But with the skipper coming back this week they will be pretty confident and it will be a good game,"" Shaw said.
