GCFC has announced an unchanged side for the club’s Round 2 VFL clash against last year’s VFL home and away runner up Williamstown at 2.00pm on Saturday at Merrimac Oval.
B Matthew SHAW Jack HUTCHINS Michael GUGLIOTTA
HB Taylor HINE Michael COAD Maverick WELLER
C Marc LOCK(c) Danny STANLEY Trent MCKENZIE
HF Brandon MATERA Charlie DIXON Alik MAGIN
F Liam PATRICK Nathan ABLETT Rex LIDDY
R Zac SMITH David SWALLOW Daniel HARRIS
INT Rory THOMPSON Hayden JOLLY Luke RUSSELL Sam ILES
Luke SHREEVE
EMG Joey DAYE Roland AH CHEE
Gold Coast Senior Coach Guy McKenna said the team deserves every chance to find on-field cohesion so in the absence of any injuries he was happy to give the Round 1 team another run.
“We have two first-up home games so it’s a good opportunity to look at the boys again and settle the side down. It takes time for team mates to get used to playing next to each other. So the idea is to give the boys two games together before we head to Melbourne for the Anzac weekend night game against Werribee,” he said.
Williamstown - aligned with AFL club Western Bulldogs - is considered a 2010 VFL flag contender. Its Round 2 team is expected to include several players with AFL games under their belts - among them Nathan Eagleton, Dylan Addison, Jarrad Grant and Tim Callan – as well as a number of players on the Bulldogs list.
“They’re an aligned club, and you’d probably expect them to be a top four side. They’ll definitely present another challenge for our group,” McKenna said.
Although pleased with his team’s intensity during last week’s loss to Port Melbourne, McKenna says he hopes for a more even effort in Round 2.
“One of the things that really stood out for me last week was that individually we did some really great things during the game, but collectively we were a little disjointed at times. Hopefully that’s an area where we can pick things up.”
He also foreshadowed a more consistent defensive effort.
“Our defenders had to contend with fifty one forward entries last week. So I’ll be looking for a bit more defensive pressure through the middle and up forward.”
“In many ways the team set a standard last week. Now we need to see if the boys can back up and perform consistently.”
• The GCFC squad includes seven Queenslanders, two South Australians, three Northern Territorians, two Tasmanians, two Western Australians and eleven Victorians.
• Merrimac Oval is home ground to AFLQ club Broadbeach AFC. Full forward Nathan Ablett and midfielder Luke Shreeve should feel right at home – both have played for ‘Broadie’. St Kilda star Nick Riewoldt and Melbourne young gun Ricky Petterd also played with the club at junior level.
• Williamstown finished second on ladder after the 2009 VFL home and away season with 13 wins and 5 losses.
• Keep an eye out for ’27 year-old veteran’, Daniel Harris, who was GCFC’s best last week. The former Kangaroo kicked four goals, was tireless at the stoppages and led the home side’s tackle count.
• Yellow-booted forwards Rex Liddy (from FNQ) and Northern Territorian Liam Patrick were electric at various times against Port Melbourne. If this week’s game opens up, both should feature strongly.
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