North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson claims there will be nowhere to hide when the Kangaroos and Bombers duke it out at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.
Both teams are under the pump, ahead of the Round 3 clash.
After a fast start to 2026 with a 46-point win against Port Adelaide, Clarkson's Roos led West Coast - a team that had lost 14 games on the bounce - by 30 points before being overrun.
Essendon, meanwhile, has lost its two games this year by a combined 125 points and facing the prospect of a 16th consecutive defeat.
"Anyone who has got their backs to the wall are usually (fired up), we're expecting Essendon's best," Clarkson said.
"It's another chance against another opponent that has its backs to the wall and will be doing everything to try and win this game of footy.
"That's why we're excited, it's a great contest and she's going to on for young and old, I'm sure."
Clarkson went a step further, admitting the Roos are bracing for the "Bombers of old", referring to the feared Essendon teams of the 1980s and 90s.
"I only know the Essendon of old and that's one way, that's to do that [come out breathing fire]," Clarkson said.
"Anyone who's got their backs to the wall are usually (fired up), and we're expecting Essendon's best," Clarkson said.
"Even in passages of play over the course of the last two rounds, they've played against two pretty good opponents in Hawthorn who were jumping on the rebound and so were Port Adelaide jumping off a rebound loss.
"They still played some good patches of footy and we can see through the course of those games that the Essendon best will trouble anyone.
"We've got to prepare for that more so than prepare for the fact they haven't been at their best consistently right throughout those two four-quarter performances."
With the Bombers' most recent win occurring way back in May last year, and Essendon great Tim Watson this week saying he believes Brad Scott is under threat to keep his job as coach, Clarkson was asked if he has sympathy for his counterpart.
"It's a tough caper and it's the swings and roundabouts of the game," Clarkson said.
"All we can really worry about is what goes on within the four walls of our footy club and the real challenges that come.
"We'll just focus on the things that we've can control in here and appreciate and have empathy for the other 17 coaches that at different stages are going to go through the same thing."
The Roos welcome midfield star George Wardlaw, who hasn't played this year after straining a hamstring in a VFL practice match in February.
"He's had a really good training block and he was right to go last week, but we have 23 pretty good performers the week before against Port Adelaide," Clarkson said.
"He's good to go and maybe the extra week is just a benefit for him to really freshen up and hopefully he provides some spark for us.
"He'll be on limited game time, but with the fifth interchange player now, it just gives you a little bit more affordability to just manage the time load of some of your players."
