With the travelling party waking up to heavy drizzle last Saturday morning and with the forecast of further rain, the club’s match committee opted for another midfielder rather than an additional “tall.”
It did not rain again through the game, but it opened the door for rookie Matt Priddis to make his much-anticipated debut. Priddis excelled in the conditions, gathered 19 possessions in about a half of football and was instrumental in the greatest come-from-behind victory in club history.
The unlucky Seaby returned to Perth with the rest of the team on Sunday night and then played for West Perth in the WAFL derby against East Perth on Foundation Day. Despite the unusual lead-up to playing he was a solid contributor despite the Falcons being beaten by their strong rivals.
With a fast, dry track expected on Sunday against Carlton, Seaby is back in contention – listed as one of three inclusions to a preliminary squad of 25. The 22 players who represented West Coast against the Cats have been retained in the squad while Seaby, Mark LeCras and Brett Jones have been added.
Like Seaby, the reliable Jones travelled to Geelong, but ultimately missed selection while LeCras was also strutting his stuff for West Perth last Monday. Unfortunately Jones missed the chance to play any football last weekend because his WAFL club, Claremont had a bye.
The match committee now has some interesting decisions to make in terms of the composition of the starting line-up against the Blues.
Carlton comes to Perth with West Coast one of the shortest priced favourites in betting history – but that means nothing to coach Worsfold and his team. It is a matter of preparing to the usual professional standards and performing at the level expected.
West Coast is in the fortunate position of having a bunch of players sitting outside the squad who are in eye-catching form.
This week former Melbourne utility player Steven Armstrong was promoted to the primary list on the back of another outstanding display with Perth, picking up 43 possessions for the Demons against Peel last Saturday.
As well, Sam Butler was in captivating form for Perth last week while LeCras, Jones, Shannon Hurn, Mitch Morton, Travis Gaspar, Michael Gardiner and Andrew McDougall are all itching for an opportunity.
