A BOUT of gastro saw a number of Essendon players sent home from the club this week, but assistant coach Paul Corrigan says the Bombers are ready to face reigning premiers Richmond in their opening JLT Community Series game on Saturday.
Essendon had its season launch on Wednesday night but a large group of prominent players, including Michael Hurley, Cale Hooker, Orazio Fantasia and Zach Merrett, were all absent after illness spread through the club.
Merrett has recovered to be named in the Bombers' squad of 30 to take on the Tigers in Wangaratta, and Corrigan said the mid-week inconvenience had not changed their plans ahead of their first pre-season contest.
"A bit of gastro went through earlier in the week so it's not ideal for the preparation but everyone's back on deck yesterday and today and everyone got through training with no worries so there's no concerns there," Corrigan said on Friday.
"It knocked around a fair few, but some [were] more minor than others. We're pretty cautious with the way we deal with it and getting players [out of the club] so they don't spread it. Everyone was back in yesterday if they needed to be and back in today and running around.
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"From a selection point of view the squad that we named, the people we chose earlier in the week, are still there."
The Bombers will unveil off-season recruits Jake Stringer and Devon Smith against the Tigers, while former Gold Coast defender Adam Saad will also play having lined up for the club in last week's AFLX competition.
Rookie ruckman Sam Draper, who has plenty excited at Essendon with his development in the past 18 months, will also play for the senior side for the first time.
Essendon expects to have close to a full-strength side for its second and final pre-season game against Geelong in Colac on Sunday, March 11.
Hurley did some training on Friday morning before heading inside, but Hooker did the full session as both of their pre-season loads are managed to be ready for round one.
Tom Bellchambers and David Myers are other senior players who will not make the trip to Wangaratta.
"We'll definitely make sure that if those guys are available we'll have them in the side and get a game under their belt before round one," Corrigan said.
"But with that too, we'll look at their loads and how they're training and if they're not ready then we won't play them. With two weeks in between Richmond and Geelong, hopefully those guys come up and we can put our best side forward."
Richmond will field a near full-strength side that includes premiership stars Dustin Martin, Alex Rance, Jack Riewoldt and Trent Cotchin.
