Essendon players were put through a tough 75-minute training session at Colonial Stadium this afternoon. In their toughest session for the week, players did skill and tackling work and finished off with six, 150m sprints. It is just 10 days until the season opener and with a number of players not playing this weekend, the intensity at training has picked up. The Essendon match committee has finalised the 10 players who will play this weekend.

The VFL side plays Williamstown at Victoria Park this Friday afternoon at 2pm. The AFL has granted permission for 10 players who have had interrupted pre-seasons to play in the match. The 10 players nominated by the Bombers are: Chris Heffernan, Danny Jacobs, David Hille, Blake Caracella, Dean Solomon, Dean Rioli, Simon O'Keefe, Matthew Lloyd, Paul Salmon and Gary Moorcroft.