Davenport, 23, was taken at pick 78 in the 2008 National Draft after spending two years on Geelong’s list – one as a rookie. The tenacious midfielder won the Geelong VFL best and fairest award last year and has been a ball magnet for West in the SANFL this year.
General Manager – Football Operations Peter Rohde said Davenport had “well and truly earned his selection”.
“Jase has been in great form over the pre-season and he showed some really good signs in the game against the Kangaroos in the NAB challenge,” Rohde said.
“He’s a hard running midfielder who’ll play on the wing and half forward and has a reputation for kicking a few goals. He’s got great endurance and he’ll add some real depth to our midfield.
“With a hamstring injury, Hamish was too much of a risk to play. We’ll monitor him over the next week and hopefully he won’t be out for long.”
The Power will train tomorrow from 10am at Alberton before departing for Melbourne. Nick Lower is the travelling emergency.
The Power’s final 22 to face the Kangaroos, as named at 4.30pm on Thursday, is as follows…
B: Michael Pettigrew, Alipate Carlile, Jacob Surjan
HB: Nathan Krakouer, Troy Chaplin, Dom Cassisi
C: Travis Boak, Chad Cornes, Steven Salopek
HF: Robert Gray, Warren Tredrea, David Rodan
F: Brett Ebert, Brendon Lade, Daniel Motlop
R: Dean Brogan, Kane Cornes, Danyle Pearce
Interchange: Jason Davenport, Peter Burgoyne, Tom Logan, Matt Thomas
Emergencies: Nick Lower, Marlon Motlop, Matt Westhoff
IN: Jason Davenport
OUT: Hamish Hartlett (hamstring)
NEW: Jason Davenport – 2008 National Draft Pick 78
