John Worsfold says the players are well positioned to cope with the hot temperatures expected for the match against Geelong in Shepparton tomorrow.

The mercury is tipped to rise in to the high 30’s with the AFL enacting the heat policy that will see quarters reduced in length and the breaks extended.

“At this time of year, the players have trained in some pretty tough conditions and they’re well conditioned to it,” Worsfold said.

“We often try to get the team away to chase the heat in the pre-season, so this works out pretty well for us.”

The quarters will be shortened to 22 minutes and the quarter and three-quarter time breaks extended to eight minutes.

Half time will also be stretched to 25 minutes.

The Bombers have included seven players who didn’t feature in last Sunday’s win against Carlton including new recruit Mark Jamar and Brownlow medal winner Adam Cooney.

“We’ll try a couple of things in terms of positional moves,” Worsfold said.

“Conditioning is a big part of it, with the guys still focusing on what we’ve been training – we still want them to back themselves in moving the ball pretty quickly.”

Essendon is coming off a ten-goal win against the Blues, but Worsfold said the side isn’t getting carried away.

“We reviewed that like we reviewed any game,” he said.

“Every challenge is going to get tougher from here on in – we’re truly aware of that.

“We’re really keen against a pretty good side tomorrow to see where we’re really at.

“We’ve got a bit of a different line-up but it’ll still give us an idea of how the boys are moving.”