Melbourne has named mid-season recruits Joel Fitzgerald and Lukas Cooke to make their AFL debuts against Essendon at the MCG on Saturday, a selection call that gives the Demons two first-gamers for a round 14 clash with real stakes attached. Bailey Laurie and Jake Melksham were also included, while Latrelle Pickett, Brody Mihocek, Caleb Windsor and Tom McDonald made way.

The match starts at 1.15pm AEST and arrives with Melbourne sitting on an 8-5 record, a mark that makes it the favourite on paper after it snapped a two-match losing streak by beating Collingwood last time out. Essendon comes in at 1-12, but the numbers have not told the whole story between these two this season. The Bombers already stunned Melbourne earlier in the year, and that win remains their only victory in the past year.

Essendon also made changes, bringing in Jordan Ridley and Dyson Sharp while Max Kondogiannis and Saad El-Hawli were dropped, and the teams were listed with no late changes before the opening bounce. Melbourne’s selection of Fitzgerald and Cooke is the headline, but the bigger pressure point is that the Demons are again trying to solve an opponent that has already caught them out once when they were expected to win.

That makes Saturday more than a routine round 14 meeting at the MCG. Melbourne has the better record and the stronger recent form, but Essendon has already shown in this matchup that it can turn the script. Fitzgerald and Cooke will learn quickly that a debut can come with the sort of noise only a rematch like melbourne vs essendon can bring.