As coach Rodney Eade indicated in the post-match press conference following his team’s opening NAB Challenge game against Brisbane, the Gold Coast SUNS will take an inexperienced squad to Perth for its second pre-season contest against the West Coast Eagles on Thursday.
845 games of AFL experience drops out of the 26-man squad that defeated the Lions with veterans Matt Rosa, Nick Malceski and Michael Rischitelli all bypassing the trip west.
Vice-captains Steven May and Tom Lynch will also miss the game, as will Rory Thompson, Tom Nicholls and Kade Kolodjashnij.
Headlining the list of inclusions for the Eagles clash are Jack Martin, Jarrod Harbrow and Adam Saad who all return from minor injuries. After being elevated to an extended leadership group in the pre-season, Harbrow will assume the captaincy duties in Joondalup.
Foundation SUNS Trent McKenzie and Brandon Matera will get their first opportunities of the pre-season while national draft selections Brayden Fiorini, Josh Schoenfeld and Mackenzie Willis have all been named in an extended squad.
Tall defenders Henry Schade and Jack Leslie come in to replace May and Thompson in the key posts down back, while Keegan Brooksby will play a forward/ruck role against the Eagles.
Dion Prestia remains absent from the squad with the club choosing not to risk the valuable midfielder as he looks to return from a torn lateral meniscus that ended his 2015 season early.
Gold Coast SUNS Squad
NAB Round 2 v West Coast
Thursday March 3
4. Jack Martin
5. Jarrod Harbrow (c)
6. Alex Sexton
8. Luke Russell
11. Touk Miller
12. Sam Day
13. Callum Ah Chee
14. Mitch Hallahan
15. Dan Currie
18. Trent McKenzie
20. Henry Schade
21. Jack Leslie
23. Sean Lemmens
26. Matt Shaw
27. Clay Cameron
29. Brayden Fiorini
30. Peter Wright
31. Keegan Brooskby
32. Brandon Matera
33. Aaron Hall
34. Mackenzie Willis
36. Josh Schoenfeld
37. Jesse Lonergan
39. Ryan Davis
40. Tom Keough
41. Jarrod Garlett
42. Adam Saad
44. Darcy Macpherson
48. Seb Tape
IN: Martin, Harbrow, McKenzie, Schade, Leslie, Fiorini, Brooksby, Matera, Willis, Schoenfeld, Saad
OUT: Rosa, Malceski, Thompson, May, Lynch, Nicholls, Kolodjashnij, Rischitelli
