Collingwood has named a 25-man squad ahead of Sunday’s ANZAC Day match against Essendon at the MCG.
Shane O’Bree, Nathan Brown, Chris Dawes and Ben Reid have all been included into the squad while veteran defender Simon Prestigiacomo will miss with groin soreness.
The 32-year-old has had an injury-riddled start to his 15th season of league football after missing round two with a quad problem and is now confirmed to miss Sunday afternoon.
The Magpie match committee has included two talls as possible replacements for Prestigiacomo with Reid and Brown named.
Reid, who made his only senior appearance of 2010 in the round two win over Melbourne, played a strong game down back in the VFL last weekend and could line up against Essendon for the first time in his career.
Also included is 21-year-old Brown, who could play his first match since round 16 in 2009. Selected with overall pick 10 in the 2006 draft, Brown made a strong impact in his first season of senior football (23 matches in 2008) before suffering a knee injury last year which hampered his progress.
Two strong performances in the VFL has seen Dawes named in the squad for the blockbuster clash. The 193-centimetre big man will look to build on his ten goals from ten AFL games across the last two seasons.
Omitted from last week’s senior side, O’Bree has been named after performing strongly in the VFL last week with 23 disposals and two goals. His experience on the ANZAC Day stage could some into consideration having played in nine of the 16 contests.
The squad of 25 players will be culled to 22 on Friday afternoon at 5pm (AEST). Stay tuned to Collingwoodfc.com.au on Friday to view the published side.
On Saturday afternoon the VFL Magpies will host their second match of the season at Victoria Park against the Bendigo Bombers. Follow all the action through a live chat on Collingwoodfc.com.au starting from 1.30pm with the match scheduled for a 2pm start (Click here to receive a reminder).
Click here to view the AFL broadcast guide.
Round five
Collingwood v Essendon
Sunday 25 April
MCG, 2.40 pm
Collingwood
B: Heath Shaw, Ben Reid, Ben Johnson
HB: Harry O’Brien, Nick Maxwell, Sharrod Wellingham
C: Luke Ball, Dane Swan, Steele Sidebottom
HF: Josh Fraser, Travis Cloke, Alan Didak
F: Dayne Beams, Paul Medhurst, Leon Davis
Foll: Darren Jolly, Scott Pendlebury, Dale Thomas
Interchange from: Leigh Brown, Brent Macaffer, Tarkyn Lockyer, Chris Dawes, Nathan Brown, Alan Toovey, Shane O’Bree
In: Nathan Brown, Chris Dawes, Shane O'Bree, Ben Reid
Out: Simon Prestigiacomo (groin soreness)
