James Hird has denied he intended to send a message to his underperforming Essendon side by swinging the selection axe ahead of Saturday night's match against Fremantle.
On the back of consecutive losses that preceded their bye, the Bombers dumped Tom Bellchambers, Ricky Dyson and Sam Lonergan.
Alwyn Davey is also out from the team that narrowly fell short of a comeback win against Sydney in Round 11, with David Hille, Kyle Reimers, Cory Dell'Olio and Michael Hibberd all coming in.
But Hird rejected suggestions he had attempted to fire up his side with a ruthless selection policy for the game at Patersons Stadium.
"I don't think it's necessarily a statement, I just think it's a team that's better suited to this larger ground rather than a ground like Etihad," he said.
"We think on a bigger deck that bringing some more runners into the team in Kyle Reimers was pretty important for us.
"David Hille, who has played three games in the reserves now, is ready to play and our intention was always to keep our rucks rotating."
Essendon's mid-season slump, which included losses to Melbourne and the Swans, has seen them fall from second to sixth on the ladder but Hird was adamant it was just a slight drop in form they could work their way out of quickly.
And the coach said it was wastefulness, rather than a bad overall game, that let them down against Sydney.
Despite amassing an incredible 78 inside 50s, the Bombers kicked 1.11 in the first half and fell short by four points even after booting nine goals to two in the final quarter.
"If you can get the ball into your 50m zone more than 70 times, you're doing something right," Hird said.
"We've worked a lot on our goalkicking and the boys will kick really well tomorrow, I've got no doubt they will.
"It wasn't just the forwards, it was everyone, and we're confident that'll change this week."
While the Dockers enter the match in 11th spot and without key players Aaron Sandilands, Stephen Hill, Zac Dawson (all injured) and Hayden Ballantyne (suspended), Hird said Ross Lyon's coaching expertise always made him wary.
But he played down concerns about Essendon's poor run at the ground, which has seen them lose six consecutive games in Perth since their last victory there in Round 14 2008.
"I'm not sure it's our bogey ground ... but we understand it's going to be a very tough game in a place that we haven't played well at for a long time," Hird said.
"I think you've got to defend the ground a little more differently to the way we defend Etihad and you've got to use the ball better and in a different way."