Essendon will come off a six-day break after beating North Melbourne on Easter Monday while the Cats rested up over the weekend after opening their season last Thursday with a narrow win over Port Adelaide.
“I’m not sure whether having six or 10 days off is more beneficial,” Thompson said.
“Most people would probably think 10 days but that’s not necessarily the case.
“It might be, but we are not sure at the moment. Once you get into a routine of having six or seven days’ recovery you get into a rhythm and we are able to cope with that. You wouldn’t want to have too many 10-day recoveries.”
While the premiership coach doubted the benefits of the long break, it has allowed running defender Josh Hunt time to recover from an ankle injury sustained against the Power.
Thompson said Hunt would play, despite rolling an ankle just before three-quarter time, but rated ruckman Brad Ottens only a 50-50 chance. Ottens suffered an ankle injury in a VFL practice match a week before the season opener.
“It’s a bit early to tell whether he’s going to play or not,” Thompson said of Ottens.
The Cats should also regain premiership defender Max Rooke this week.
Rooke has been troubled with a calf complaint, but played the majority of a reserves match for the Cats on the weekend and Thompson said he is available for selection in the seniors.
Having travelled to Telstra Dome to watch the Bombers humble the Roos, the Geelong coach said he was impressed with what Essendon served up.
While admitting he saw no marked game-style changes under first-year coach Matthew Knights, Thompson was sure the Bombers forward structure would hold up despite losing centre half-forward Scott Lucas for 10-12 weeks.
Lucas damaged a posterior cruciate ligament in a marking contest late in the first quarter in the win over North Melbourne.
“It does change their forward set up but it looks like their forward line is going to function okay without Lucas,” he said.
With only one round completed in the Cats’ title defence Thompson said now was the time to experiment at the selection table.
“Towards the end of the year, if you are in the finals you try and plan for that and you go in with a different mindset,” he said.
“But, at this time of the year I think most coaches and teams would have goals to play certain individuals. We’ve got Harry Taylor, Brent Prismall and Trent West and these people who we want to give opportunities to and we will do that.”
West debuted last weekend as a back-up ruck option to Mark Blake while Taylor and Prismall flew to Adelaide as emergencies.
Thompson rated the win over the Power as the perfect start to the 2008 campaign and hoped to be able to sustain the first-half form for a longer period against the Bombers.
“I thought our game was a sensational game of footy,” he said.
“You just concentrate on the first half and hopefully we will be able to do that again but do it for a bit longer.
“On reflection it was the perfect game for us.”
