Essendon coach Brad Scott is considering bringing up to six senior players back into the side following the club's mid-season bye.
The Bombers were valiant in Perth against Fremantle, but eventually went down by 41 points in a spirited effort.
But the week off will help the finals-chasing club to reset, and potentially look at welcoming a host of stars back to the fold.
Sam Durham will return from suspension, while the progress from injury of Kyle Langford (quad), Jordan Ridley (hamstring), Mason Redman (calf), Zach Reid (hamstring) and Saad El-Hawli (hamstring) will be watched closely ahead of the Round 17 Gold Coast contest.
Veteran ruckman Todd Goldstein was also given the chance to reset, missing the trip west to recoup, giving debutant Vigo Visentini an opportunity at AFL level.
"We'll definitely get Durham back, and there's probably five or six others that will be close," Scott said.
"Now we've got to balance, is it a risk to bring (those) five or six back all at once? We'll assess where they're at, all of those players will have a strong training session this weekend, they won't have the same bye week that all the others have.
"We've got two weeks to get them ready.
"The silver lining of all this is we think there's some players who've come into our team that won't go out regardless of who comes back.
"By definition, that should make us stronger."
All players in contention for a return will train through the bye.
Scott was full of praise for the club's 11th debutant of 2025, who battled willfully against one of the competition's best ruckmen in Luke Jackson.
The Bombers youngster recorded 15 disposals, four clearances, three marks, 17 hit-outs and two tackles, one of which inspired the club's mini resurgence.
"From what I saw tonight, it won't be his (Visentini's) last game of AFL footy, that's for sure," Scott said.
"Visentini was fantastic. I thought he was terrific against a really good player.
ICYMI.
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"I thought he rucked and competed really well. He's a 19-year-old playing his first game against a Premiership player. There's big challenges in footy, but probably not too many bigger than that.
"He's got a huge opportunity to learn under one of the all-time great ruckman in Todd Goldstein.
"Knowing Goldie, like I do, Goldie's dual objective will be to get himself ready to perform when he needs to play, but he'll take a really-strong interest in getting Vigo up to speed as quickly as possible."
Scott was also adamant that out-of-form youngster Archie Perkins will find his groove again, despite having some forgettable moments.
Perkins started as the sub for the second week in a row, and showed glimpses of his immense talent, which were overshadowed by a dropped uncontested mark, of which his coach believes he's "doubting himself".
"I think that it's always about reminding players what they're really good at. And Perkins is a strong, powerful footballer who, at his best, is breaking through tackles and competing really strong," Scott said.
"Right at the moment, he's doubting himself a little bit. And so my job is to remind him of what he's really good at.
"Coach those things in terms of the technical aspect, but then getting to the point where he's in the frame of mind to get out and compete because he is a competitor.
"But he's just making mistakes through hesitation at the moment.
"It'll come for him. We've just got to persist."
