The Round 1 team will be named at 6:20pm AEDT Thursday, but before then we’ve got the late mail with updates on Sid Draper, Izak Rankine, Finn O’Sullivan, Harley Reid, Elijah Hewett and more.
UPDATES
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks discussed the confirmed debut of rookie Sid Draper, floating the idea of using him as sub or subbing him out.
Nicks said: “The reasons we’d love to play him. The quicker you can get games into players the better, the more they experience … there are things we know he’s going to learn from being out there and amongst it. There are ways we can educate him at a slightly lower level.
“A young guy coming in, the experience of playing on a big stage for the first time, a sub role might be appropriate. Or do you just let him loose and let him go, if he does tire, maybe the possibility (of subbing him out). They’re decisions we haven’t locked in yet.”
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Nicks also discussed the midfield role of Izak Rankine as looks to balance his mix with Jordan Dawson, Matt Crouch, Jake Soligo and even Draper.
He said: “There’s no hiding we want to get him around the ball as much as we can. The midfield is going to do that for us. It’ll depend on how we’re going as a team and how he’s goes as an individual. It’s that balance.
“I think he compliments our midfield group. Matty Crouch has been really strong through the pre-season, I think it helps having that different dynamic, the speed and acceleration of Izak. I think Soligo has taken his game to another level again. You mentioned Sid who is a different dynamic and then led by Dawson through there.
“I think Izak will spend a bit more time around the footy this year than last year.”
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Nicks also revealed he’s likely to select Wayne Milera, pending him getting through Thursday training.
He said: “We’d love to play ‘Junior’, we want to get him out there on a ground he has played a lot of his footy. There’s no doubt he’s up to the level. He’s an extremely talented player and if he’s fit and raring to go, he’ll play in our side. He’s fit at the moment. We’ll see how he trains today.”
North coach Alastair Clarkson talked up debutant Finn O’Sullivan’s strengths. He said: “He’s got really good composure with the ball in hand and knows how to find it. Despite being wiry, he’s got pretty good strength through his hips. He’s hard to tackle and you can’t take him to ground easy. He looks like a guy who’s got a lot of time with the ball.”
Clarkson also hinted Jacob Konstanty could make his North debut after his moe fro Sydney. He said: “He’d had a really good summer. He had some surgery at the end of last year on his foot. He didn’t do as much as the other players in the lead-up to Christmas. He hasn’t put a step wrong in the time since.
“He’ll be in the mix to play this week. We’ll decide this afternoon. He might be a big chance to play. If it isn’t this week, it’ll likely be early in the season.”
West Coast coach Andrew McQualter backed in Harley Reid, following discussion on his match fitness. He said: “Harley’s ready to perform. A lot of players go through different things in pre-season. But when players are picked, they’re picked to perform at AFL level, so Harley’s ready to go.”
McQualter spoke about Elijah Hewett’s availability, amid talk he’ll miss Round 1. He said: “Elijah is planning to train fully. We’re hoping he gets through that and pick a team afterwards.”
The Eagles coach said they’d “potentially” have debutant/s, with key forward/back-up ruck Archer Reid floated as the main one. He said: “We’ve got to get through training. Archer has had a good pre-season. There’s good competition for spots. He’s shown some ability in that position.”
McQualter confirmed Bo Allan will miss their Round 1 game. He said: “Bo is not going to play this week in the AFL… He was unwell for a few days and lost significant weight. To come in unprepared wasn’t setting him up.
“Not necessarily (does he need several weeks to build up). I think you can bounce back from these types of illnesses quite quickly. We’ll just monitor him.”
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