West Coast younger gun Reuben Ginbey will face his hardest problem but when he takes on the may of star Melbourne midfielders Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver.
Ginbey has been a revelation since being snared by the Eagles with choose No.9 in final yr’s nationwide draft.
The 18-year-old has tallied a league-high 26 tackles throughout the opening three rounds whereas taking part in on stars akin to Luke Davies-Uniacke (North Melbourne), Tom Green (GWS) and Caleb Serong (Fremantle).
The problem will likely be even larger on Sunday towards Melbourne’s star-studded midfield, with coach Adam Simpson flagging the prospect of Ginbey spending time on Petracca and Oliver.
“He’s playing on the league’s best players every week. We feel that suits him to go to the best. This week, take your pick,” Simpson stated.
“It’s a little bit unfair to stick an 18-year-old on these guys, but he seems to have handled it pretty well so far.
“Our expectations are simply round publicity. You do not must be our greatest participant.
“He’s leading the league for tackles. He’s pretty honest the way he goes about it. I don’t think you’re going to see a massive fluctuation with form.”
The Eagles had been compelled to make seven injury-enforced modifications following final week’s 41-point western derby loss to Fremantle.
Skipper Luke Shuey (hamstring), Jamie Cripps (damaged ankle), Jeremy McGovern (hamstring), Liam Ryan (hamstring), Campbell Chesser (knee) and Alex Witherden (concussion) had been all injured throughout the match.
Midfielder Dom Sheed fractured his larynx at coaching on Thursday, whereas Harry Edwards – who was tipped to interchange McGovern, was dominated out after rolling his ankle on Tuesday.
Veteran Elliot Yeo returns for his first match of the yr, whereas Brady Hough, Connor West, Greg Clark, Luke Edwards and Jai Culley had been additionally included.
The Demons recalled Tom McDonald to interchange fellow ahead Ben Brown (again), whereas speedster Kysaiah Pickett returns from suspension.
Simpson says he will not be telling his gamers to tug out of harmful marking contests regardless of dropping Witherden to concussion.
Witherden was by accident cleaned up by Dockers midfielder Jaeger O’Meara in a mid-air collision after flying for a mark with the flight of the ball.
Concussion has hit West Coast closely lately, with each Daniel Venables and Brad Sheppard compelled to retire early.
Simpson will proceed to encourage his gamers to play the sport on intuition.
“I think it’s really hard to pull out when you know you can mark it,” Simpson stated.
“I haven’t given any advice. I think you just go for it and mark it.
“I feel Witherden thought he was on his personal. Maybe take a look earlier than you go.
“But that’s just the game. We like the bravery, and sometimes it comes with a consequence.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
