About proving it can back up its unexpected win over Geelong, about proving it can win at the MCG, and about proving it is a much stronger team than the last time the sides met, in round nine when Richmond won by 16 points to kick-start Essendon's five-game losing streak.
Bombers coach James Hird said his team was ""ready to play"" against the Tigers, and said he had ignored Richmond's humiliating 103-point defeat to Carlton last week as an indicator for Saturday's game.
""We've just trained hard and prepared for Richmond, who caused us a lot of troubles last time and beat us quite convincingly,"" Hird said from Windy Hill on Friday.
""We're pretty keen to play Richmond again and give a much better account of ourselves than what we did last time.
""Richmond has had a very good year and they had a poor performance on the weekend but it doesn't mean you give your season away,"" he said.
""Having come off a bit of a flogging the week before we played Geelong (a 65-point loss to Hawthorn in round 14), we think we know what to expect from Richmond and we expect them to come breathing fire and we will enjoy that because that's the way we like to play.""
Essendon hasn't won at the MCG since round six, 2010, but Hird said he had picked a more balanced team to play on the wider ground, which, he said, was the most difficult ground in the competition to defend on.
""We've certainly played a bigger team, but probably this week we've got a lot more running power than we've had in the past,"" Hird said.
""You need a really good running spread of inside players and guys who can run and create at the MCG and that's why it's such a great ground because it's got something for everyone.
""It's probably the hardest ground to defend in the AFL because of its width. Subiaco is long and big, but the MCG's width makes it hard to cover all spaces.""
Hird said defender Tayte Pears was likely to start on Richmond spearhead Jack Riewoldt with Michael Hurley set to play as a forward despite his excellent shut-down job on Geelong's James Podsiadly last week.
Meanwhile, Hird dismissed talk of first-year Bomber Dyson Heppell winning the club's best and fairest this season as premature, and again stated his intention to give the 19-year-old a break before the end of the season.
Only one player in Essendon's history – champion goalkicker John Coleman in 1949 – has won the Crichton Medal in his first season, but Hird said Heppell needed to keep improving.
""He's been very consistent. But there's nine weeks to go in terms of the home and away season and that's still a lot of football to be played,"" Hird said.
""He's had a very good season for a first year player and is a very good player and is only going to get better as he goes along. But he wouldn't even be thinking like that and I don't think we are,"" he said.
""We'll find a game somewhere along the line to give him a rest if he needs it. If he doesn't need it then we won't. But I'd say someone his age and the amount of footy he's played this year, he's going to need a break,"" Hird said.
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