Fill-in ruckman Jake Carlisle says Essendon went into Sunday night's clash with Carlton trying to "expose" Blues big man Robbie Warnock around the ground, given his expected hit-out dominance.

And it worked perfectly, with Carlton's Warnock and Sam Rowe managing 56 hit-outs to the Bombers' 27 for Carlisle and Joe Daniher, but Essendon smashing the Blues by 81 points.

Carlisle was outstanding around the ground, amassing 17 disposals and kicking a goal and running Warnock off his feet.

"He's a big bloke and we always knew he was going to win the majority of the hit-outs and our big aim was to try and get involved in the footy as much as we could and try and compete in the contest," Carlisle told said.

"We just tried to expose him.

"I thought we did really well around the ground. He probably won his fair share of hit-outs as he was meant to, but me and Joey competed pretty hard and just did what we were asked to do."

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Carlisle said it had been a challenge moving from defence last year to the forward line this season and barely getting used to that role before rucking this week after Paddy Ryder's ankle injury forced him out of the match.

But he said it gave him confidence that his combination with Daniher could produce such positive results when Ryder and fellow ruckman Tom Bellchambers were unavailable.

The Bombers recovered from last week's heartbreaking four-point loss to Hawthorn in startling fashion by training well and setting themselves up for a strong performance that took even coach Mark Thompson by surprise.

Carlisle said the effort showed the group had the resilience to learn from its mistakes and make the necessary improvements to its game throughout the season.

"It shows we can compete with the best," he said.

"Obviously at times we didn't play well last week against Hawthorn and we fixed that up this week.

"We're just going to try and come out and play the best we can play each week and try to continue to hold our form throughout the season."

The Blues were without Matthew Kreuzer (foot) but with Warnock and Rowe in the ruck, the Bombers entered expecting to lose the hit-outs.

But despite the Blues' dominance in that area, they won the clearances only 42-40.

Meanwhile, Bellchambers is nearing a return to the field and could play in the VFL as early as next weekend, Thompson says.

With Ryder rated a good chance to face Fremantle next week at Patersons Stadium, things are looking up for the Bombers' big man division.

Bellchambers had ankle surgery in late January that was expected to sideline him for at least three months.

He trained with the group on Friday and will now focus on lining up in Essendon's VFL side's clash with North Ballarat on Saturday at Windy Hill.

Thompson said he would welcome the return of his genuine ruckmen in the coming weeks.

"It's exciting stuff, getting a couple of ruckmen back," he said.

Bellchambers has aimed all along for the Bombers' Anzac Day clash with Collingwood as his return AFL match, and a run in the VFL this week will give him the chance to get two games under his belt before a senior call up.