Essendon will welcome back forward Alec Waterman in Saturday night's Tackling Childhood Cancer game against Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday night.

The 25-year-old replaces omitted youngster Ned Cahill as the Bombers' only change to the side which defeated Hawthorn on Sunday.

Waterman, who recently signed a one-year contract extension, missed the clash against the Hawks with a calf complaint.

He'll line up for his seventh AFL game on Saturday night, looking to add to his nine majors.

Andrew Phillips, Tom Cutler, Sam Durham and David Zaharakis have been named as emergencies, with one to be named the medical sub one hour before the bounce.

The club would like to thank the brave kids from Challenge who drew the players for this week's team announcement, which is featured in the video below. To support Challenge and kids living with cancer, donate here or text 'CHALLENGE' to 0476 000 111.

ESSENDON'S ROUND 15 LINE-UP:

Backs: Jayden Laverde, James Stewart, Jordan Ridley
Half-backs: Nick Hind, Mason Redman, Dyson Heppell (C)
Centre: Kyle Langford, Zach Merrett, Matt Guelfi
Half-forwards: Archie Perkins, Harrison Jones, Devon Smith
Forwards: Jake Stringer, Cale Hooker, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti
Followers: Sam Draper, Darcy Parish, Brayden Ham
Interchange: Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Nik Cox, Alec Waterman, Peter Wright

Emergencies: Andrew Phillips, Tom Cutler, David Zaharakis, Sam Durham

In: Waterman

Out: Cahill (omitted)

Last week's sub: Ambrose (not used)