Essendon has made three changes to the team that defeated West Coast by 22-points last week and Dustin Fletcher is not one of them. The All Australian full-back will spend another week on the sidelines, however his teammates Paul Barnard, Joe Misiti and Damien Peverill all return to the line-up. After playing two games last weekend Rob Forster-Knight holds his spot in the team, however Steve Alessio, Cory McGrath and James Davies were not as lucky. The trio won't make the trip to Sydney and instead will play for the Bendigo Bombers at Box Hill on Sunday.

Essendon's team:
B: Welsh, Jacobs, Wellman
HB: McVeigh, Lucas, Solomon
C: McPhee, J.Johnson, M.Johnson
HF: Mercuri, Bolton, Cupido
F: Barnard, Lloyd, Bullen
Foll: Hille, Rioli, Peverill
Inter: Reynolds, Misiti, Richards, Forster-Knight
Emerg: McGrath, Alessio, Davies

INS: Barnard, Peverill, Misiti
OUTS: McGrath, Davies, Alessio (omitted)