Essendon had five players combine with Carlton's reserves in a scratch match against the Western Bulldogs outside Metricon Stadium on Friday.

The 18-a-side game was played across four 20-minute quarters.

The Bombers had lower numbers given several emergencies flew to Darwin for the Dreamtime game against Richmond, while other players were rested ahead of a busy fortnight.

Development coach Leigh Tudor has reviewed each of the players' performances below.

Nick Bryan

"Nick played the whole game in the ruck. We've been giving him bits of pieces there given we've had Draper, Phillips and Bellchambers in recent games, so it's been tough for him to find time there. It was a really impressive game. He had a lot of hitouts to advantage and his follow-up work was good. He ran hard back into defence and had some great aerial contests. He was pretty tired at the end, but it was great to have him get the opportunity of a full game in the ruck."

Mitch Hibberd

"'Hibbo' was happy that Nick was in the ruck because he and the Carlton midfielders got silver service and first possession. He was clean in the contests, made good decisions, used the ball well and kicked a goal and set up a few. It was a good midfielder's game."

Noah Gown

"It was Noah's best game for a month. He led hard and got to good positions, taking two contested marks and kicking two goals. He could have kicked a few more had he been used more, but he got into great positions. There were a couple of things he's been working on that came out in the game, so I'm really pleased for 'Gowny'."

Harry Jones

"It was great to watch 'Jonesy' play this week. He got extra minutes and played on Jackson Trengove from the Bulldogs, who's a strong key back. Jonesy learned a lot playing on him. He worked out early that he didn't need to wrestle him and had to find different ways to get the ball, so he had to lead hard, be smart and earn every touch he got. It was a good effort from him playing against a very good player at this level."

Cian McBride

"Cian played mainly full-back and a bit of centre half-back. He got his game time up again. Defensively he was up for the challenge and battled hard. He didn't get a lot of the ball, but what he did do was defend very well."