Saturday, 10 July, 2010
Eureka Stadium, Ballarat
12.00pm
GCFC brings in six for North Ballarat challenge
GCFC has called up several new players for this weekend’s tough away game against ladder leaders North Ballarat Roosters.
After spending most of the season on the sidelines through injury, Joel Tippet - brother of Adelaide Crow, Kurt – will debut at centre half back after some strong form at Southport.
Young Queensland talents Jack Stanlake and Jesse Haberfield will play their first VFL games for the club.
Impressive AFLQ form and hard work on the training track sees Matthew Fowler earn a recall to the GCFC forward line.
Todd Grayson and Mitch Harley also return to the side.
The full team is:
B: Mitch HARLEY Michael GUGLIOTTA Roland AH CHEE
HB: Marc LOCK (c) Joel TIPPET (debut) Taylor HINE
C: Todd GRAYSON Danny STANLEY Jesse HABERFIELD (debut)
HF: Matthew SHAW Matthew FOWLER Jack STANLAKE (debut)
F: Luke RUSSELL Rory THOMPSON Brandon MATERA
R: Zac SMITH Hayden JOLLY Daniel HARRIS
Interchange from:
Tom NICHOLLS Trent McKENZIE Maverick WELLER Sam ILES
David SWALLOW Joey DAYE Piers FLANAGAN Jake CRAWFORD
In: Grayson, Haberfield, Tippett, Harley, Fowler, Stanlake.
Out: Dixon, Toy, Daye, Magin, Patrick, Hunt.
Senior Coach Guy McKenna said the challenge of playing an away game against the competition front-runners represented a significant opportunity.
“I see it very much as a positive. There’ll be no place to hide. The conditions will be hard. It’s generally windy and cold. And you’re playing the best side in the competition. You can’t shy away from it.”
McKenna said this week’s inclusions represented reward for effort.
“We’ve got a few coming in. A few of the boys have shown some really good form for Labrador and Southport, so they’ve earned a spot.”
He said he was particularly pleased at the work ethic shown by Fowler to earn another shot at VFL level.
“Training is all about improving yourself, and he’s been working really hard and today’s training was no exception. You want to play blokes like that because you know they want to get the best out of themselves.”
McKenna remained philosophical about last week’s defeat at the hands of an impressive Box Hill Hawks outfit, one that saw the Hawks withstand GCFC’s best quarter of the season, claw its way back into the contest and draw away late.
“They were a good opposition who were able to make us pay for getting ahead of ourselves and getting a bit cute after a good first quarter.”
“To be fair to the group, now that Michael Coad’s out we have just Daniel Harris at 28 years of age and 140-odd AFL games and Stanley and Iles with 12 AFL games between them. The rest of the group are very young and haven’t yet got the experience and composure to come to grips with a side that’s got a real run on. It’s about leadership, and the players will learn. It simply comes down to experience. We have seven more games to expose the players to that kind of scenario, and I see that as a really good, positive thing.”
• North Ballarat Roosters are aligned with North Melbourne Football Club. The Roosters sit equal first on the VFL ladder with nine wins and two losses.
• It’s testament to the development and strength of GCFC’s young brigade that Matthew Fowler, second in last year’s best and fairest count, will this week line up for just his third game of the year.
• The Roosters side is expected to include AFL regulars David Hale, Aaron Edwards, and Leigh Harding.
• Saturday’s weather forecast for Ballarat is not pretty: wet, windy, 10 degrees.
