Essendon will use tall forward Joe Daniher as back-up ruckman to Patrick Ryder against North Melbourne on Friday night.

After being hesitant to throw him into the demanding role in his first season, Bombers' coach Mark Thompson said the 201cm forward, who played five games in 2013, had shown he was capable of playing the dual role.

"We said we wouldn't do it last year and [in] his first game he played he went into the ruck and went better in the ruck," Thompson said. 

"As long as he looks after his knees - the ball-ups and the boundary throw-ins aren't a problem anymore - [it's] just a centre bounce really where you get that big clash."

Thompson said supporters could expect to see flashes of Daniher's talent during the season although it was misguided to expect him to dominate early in his career and the club would manage him carefully.

"He [Daniher] probably won't play the whole year," he said. 

"He's got high ambitions. He wants to be a great player. I think you will see things from him this year that will show a lot of people what he is capable of in the future. He won't do it consistently this year but he will show patches where people will sit back and say, 'Wow he is a player of the future'."

A player of here and now is Ryder, who plays his 150th game this week.

Having teased with his talent throughout his career, Thompson said he thought the 26-year-old was ready to meet the challenge of being more consistent.

"He's [Ryder] an interesting player. I think people expect him to be something great…we don't expect him to be a superstar. We just expect him to be a consistent performer and I suppose that is Paddy's biggest challenge," Thompson said. 

"All the signs this year we have made some improvement and hopefully we see some real consistency in the way he plays."

The Bombers also have a player of the past and future in Dustin Fletcher, who will break Simon Madden's club games record of 378 games on Friday night. Thompson remains amazed at the 38-year-old defender's longevity and resilience.

"As long as he is doing it and he's got energy and he holds his own position, we'll keep playing him. We don't know when he is going to stop," Thompson said.

At the other end of the scale are three potential first gamers who are in contention for selection. Martin Gleeson, Zach Merrett and Jason Ashby have all impressed during the pre-season and Thompson said at least one of them would play.

However, he refused to nominate who was most likely to get the nod.

"They're all going to be good players. [I'm] not sure at this stage. [We'll] discuss it at match committee," Thompson said.

Michael Hibberd is available for selection having recovered from a hamstring injury.

Thompson, who admitted he was a little nervous about his return to senior coaching, said the team had been freshened up in preparation for North Melbourne.

"[We] freshened them right up and hopefully they have got a lot of spark, [a] lot of energy, a lot of speed and endurance and they play some great footy," Thompson said.