Meredith was among the Swans’ best in the reserves clash against Belconnen Magpies last weekend and coach Paul Roos said the former Northern Knights junior deserved his chance against the Hawks.
“Brett’s had a really good pre-season and had a really good game last week. It’s obviously very exciting for him and it’s also very exciting for the footy club,” he said.
“He’s got good awareness, he knows what’s going on around him, good skills, so he’ll probably play mid-forward and a bit through the midfield.”
Ongoing shoulder problems prevented Meredith from making his AFL debut earlier but Roos said the 20-year-old had put those injuries behind him.
Luke Ablett also comes into the side after missing last week’s game against St Kilda for personal reasons, while Ed Barlow and Amon Buchanan have been omitted.
Roos said Buchanan had been sent back to the Swans’ reserves to regain some form after an indifferent game against St Kilda.
He could easily have been joined by several teammates, but for the spate of injuries plaguing many of the club’s emerging youngsters.
“There are probably a few out of form and he’s probably one of the unlucky ones. Not in terms of his own form, but there are probably a few other guys in the team at the moment who aren’t playing that well,” Roos said.
“Hopefully Amon’s able to get back [to the reserves], get a bit of the footy, get some confidence and get back into the team.”
Roos said the Swans were under no illusions as to the increased effort that would be required to match it with the Hawks on Saturday night, following a “confronting” review session of their round one effort against St Kilda.
“[Hawthorn] have become a consistently good side and that’s how you become a premiership team. It doesn’t happen overnight and it doesn’t happen by accident. They’ve really built up over a four-year period into an exceptional football team,” he said.
