Picking Essendon's 'best' 22 is a difficult task this season, given that half of its best team is suspended for the year.

It is also hard to know exactly what the Bombers want this year – if it's just to be competitive then the older top-up players will get more of a run. If it's solely about developing the next premiership team, then the youngsters should feature heavily.

We've struck a balance here, giving the likes of Jayden Laverde, Kyle Langford and Darcy Parish first crack at things.

Late recruits Mathew Stokes, James Kelly, Nathan Grima and Ryan Crowley have also been picked, but expect other pick-ups such as Sam Grimley and Jonathan Simpkin to get some good exposure across the year.

B: Mark Baguley, Mitch Brown, James Gwilt

HB: Courtenay Dempsey, Nathan Grima, Orazio Fantasia

C: James Kelly, Brendon Goddard, Darcy Parish

HF: Adam Cooney, Shaun McKernan, Ryan Crowley

F: Mathew Stokes, Joe Daniher, Nick Kommer

FOLL: Matthew Leuenberger, Zach Merrett, David Zaharakis

INT: Craig Bird, Martin Gleeson, Kyle Langford, Jayden Laverde