Hawthorn vice-captain Liam Shiels was 11 games into his AFL career when he last played in a match against Essendon that was this big.

The 180-game veteran says there will be no need to pump up their fierce rivalry before Saturday's MCG blockbuster, given what is stake.

Hawthorn is seventh but only one game out of the top four and it boasts a better percentage than four teams above them on the ladder.

Essendon has risen from the ashes of a 2-6 start to be in contention for the finals.

It has won six of its past seven matches to sit 11th, one game and percentage outside the eight.

The Bombers have only won two of their past 10 games against Hawthorn but they will approach this match with well-founded confidence.

"The importance ... is already there; it's a season-defining clash, potentially, for both clubs," Shiels said.

"All players like performing on a big stage and this week's going to be one of those games where the best players step up."

In the last game of Shiels' 2009 debut season, Essendon great Matthew Lloyd knocked out Hawks defender Brad Sewell.

Essendon won to secure eighth spot at the expense of Hawthorn, while coach Alastair Clarkson was furious with Lloyd post-match.

"I was only a young fella when I played in that game; I remember it clearly," Shiels said.

"The younger guys coming through now it's a completely different list but we try to educate them about the rivalry as much as possible.

"But this week is just a massive game for both clubs; it's going to be the highlight of the round."

One of the keys will be Shiels' teammate and fellow on-baller Tom Mitchell – the Brownlow Medal favourite.

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Mitchell has racked up 40-plus disposals in his past three games.

"He's probably, in terms of guys that I've played with, No.1 at his workrate from contest to contest," Shiels said.

"That's why he's so hard to tag. I know teams have tried to sit on him and his workrate inside to win the footy but then also on the spread, he's elite.

"Sometimes I don't know how he ends up with so many touches, the footy just seems to fall in his lap.

"He reads the game better than anyone."

Shiels often has a tagging role – he will probably go to Dyson Heppell or Zach Merrett against the Bombers – and was asked if he has tried to tag Mitchell at training.

"He doesn't train too much, Tommy. He spends a lot of time on the physio table and then he gives it his all on weekends," Shiels said.