ESSENDON will play three debutantes and seven players with 10 or less games' experience against Port Adelaide, and ruckman David Hille believes they will form the club's next great side.

Darcy Daniher, Jarrod Atkinson and No. 6 draft pick David Myers will make their AFL debuts against the Power today, while forward Jay Neagle will play his second match and midfielder Tom Hislop his fourth.

Bachar Houli is the veteran of the group with 10 games, while Leroy Jetta will return from a hamstring strain to play his eighth game.

The Essendon side will feature two 200-game players — Matthew Lloyd and Mal Michael — and 100-gamers Andrew Welsh and Adam McPhee, with the side's average experience just 61 games. That compares to 85 games per player in the Port Adelaide team, with ladder leader Geelong averaging 100 games per player yesterday.

"I think we've drafted really well in the last few years. We had a particularly strong draft last year and we've got some great young players who are starting to come on and will be the next great players of our club," said Hille. "There's no doubt injuries have hurt us and some of our younger players have been given a chance because of that, but the next few weeks are very important for us.

"We need to win games to remain in a healthy position for when we do get some significant players back, so we need all the young guys to perform."

Essendon's emphasis on youth is so pronounced that Port Adelaide's national recruiting manager Blair Hartley will have more to do with match-day preparations than he has in the past.

In formulating a blueprint for tackling Essendon, Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams has consulted his club's draft research as much as the usual planning.

Williams and his match committee returned to the notes and footage taken before the national draft to give their players some idea of the Bombers' capabilities.

"The danger is that you underestimate their players and we certainly won't be doing that," Williams said of the risk when facing such green opposition. "We saw their younger players play when they were recruited and we know who they are.

"We actually spent some time making sure that every one of our players understood the new Essendon players' strengths and weaknesses.

"When you get quite a few changes to a team at this time of year, it is a little different and Essendon didn't play all that well last week, so I'm sure they're ready to go."

Port's prime concern this week has been to develop a way of playing without important utility Chad Cornes, who is out for a month with a broken finger.

In terms of leadership, captain Warren Tredrea, ruckman Dean Brogan and Kane Cornes will all shoulder greater responsibility, while the talent and poise lost has been topped up by the inclusion of Robbie Gray.