The Essendon coaching panel plan on making whole sale changes to the team that lost to Adelaide. Bomber coach Kevin Sheedy said they would probably make between three to six changes. Aaron Henneman is likely to make his first senior appearance after returning to the VFL three weeks ago from a groin injury. Sheedy hinted that Dean Rioli is also a likely inclusion, however has not made a decision on Mark Mercuri coming back into the side after serving a two week suspension. ""Experience only helps if you have the ball. It is hard to measure if he can get the ball. Mercuri's form was good in the VFL before he got outed. He would be fresh to play but it is whether we make that hard call and say he is ready to come in. There will probably be a couple of players that come in that have been out for a while,"" Sheedy said.

Dustin Fletcher (striking) and Damian Cupido (rough play) are both available for selection this week after the AFL Tribunal found the pair not guilty. ""It is great to have those two boys available. But they need to play well now. I was really disappointed Dustin got reported in the last minute of play - it shouldn't have happened and he knows that. I asked him straight after the game what happened and he said he hardly touched him. We are pleased that he is not suspended and that the tribunal didn't take notice of what was written in the Herald Sun,"" Sheedy said.

Sheedy also commented that Cupido is not a definite starter after a poor performance last week against Adelaide - his stats read five disposals at the end of the game. ""Well he (Cupido) has to get in the side first. He didn't play well last week,"" Sheedy said at training.

There has been a growing rivalry between Essendon and Brisbane over the past few seasons. Brisbane has taken the honours on the last five occasions, including the 2001 Grand Final win. ""It has been a great rivalry because they have won two premierships and we have won one. Most people feel we have let ourselves down. We don't have the same team at the club anymore and we are building a new team. We will be really pleased to see what we have got this year and we will approach the game from a whole different way,"" Sheedy said.

It is no secret Essendon must win on Saturday night to keep its finals hopes alive. Brisbane is travelling quite comfortably at the moment. They defeated Hawthorn at the Gabba last weekend and currently sit in third place on the ladder with 10 wins. ""Brisbane are a very smart side. You have to be tactically switched on when you play them. They really do light up across the half-back line and cover the space in front of the full forward. But Hawthorn nearly beat them last weekend, which was a pretty good effort,"" the four time premiership coach said.