Essendon has bolstered its outside speed with the inclusions of Courtenay Dempsey and Shaun Edwards to take on the Giants on Sunday. 

Dempsey returns after a fortnight in the VFL where he’s spent time in the forward half.

In his two games he kicked seven goals and averaged 18 disposals and seven marks.

“We’ve named him back and he’ll probably start back, but at the moment we’ll just wait and see what the mix is,” Essendon Coach James Hird said.

“He’ll probably spend some time up forward, give us some defensive pressure, some tackling and hopefully kick some goals.”

Edwards returns for his sixth game of the season after collecting 23 possessions in the VFL last week.

He’ll line up alongside first year players Kyle Langford and Jayden Laverde in a new look forward set-up. 

“They’ve got speed and intensity, but they’re also quite tall too,” Hird said. 

“They’re 190 centimetres or above all of them so it’s unusual to find good athletes with that speed at that height.

“They can all take a mark and have something a little bit special about them. 

“We need them to play their role, defend but also kick some goals when they can.”