ESSENDON’S policy of ringing the changes for each pre-season match looks set to extend into its third straight week despite two eye-catching wins in the NAB Cup.
The rotation strategy – which began immediately after the Bombers’ intraclub match down at Casey Fields – is geared exclusively around matching players to the workload of their pre-determined summer programs.
And tempting as it may be for Matthew Knights to play his strongest team in Friday night’s semi-final clash with St Kilda at Telstra Dome, the rookie coach is comfortable his theory will pay dividends during the season.
“Ricky Dyson, Leroy Jetta and Bachar Houli won’t be playing, to help manage their loads, as they’ve played their three games, including the intra-club,” Knights told the media following a closed session at Windy Hill this morning.
“Tayte Pears and David Myers, as first year players, won’t play either. They’ve had a fairly solid month training-wise and have also played their three games. Nathan Lovett-Murray will be in the same boat as the (first) three and also Sam Lonergan.
“All up, there’s probably seven guys who played last week who won’t play this week.”
While many coaches say they are only focused on round one, Knights is trying to keep a balance between pre-season glory and premiership points.
”I think it would be fantastic for our club to make the [NAB Cup grand] final, I really do. I think it would be a great experience for our younger players, and I think it would be fantastic for our support and our membership to see us playing in a NAB Cup grand final,” he said.
“Like our philosophy up in Carrara – even though when we took a young team up there, we’re playing to win (this week).
“The focus is round one, but if we pull off a victory on Friday night, we’re playing in a NAB Cup grand final, and that’s fantastic.”
Knights identified five players – Courtenay Dempsey, Jay Nash, Henry Slattery, Heath Hocking and Brent Stanton – as certain starters for the clash, with Jay Neagle still required to successfully complete Thursday’s training before being considered.
Frustratingly for Bomber fans, there remains some notable absentees from the list of inclusions.
“There’s still [Dustin] Fletcher, [Matthew] Lloyd, [Adam] McPhee, [Jason] Winderlich and [Andrew] Lovett that won’t be playing,” Knights said.
“But they’ve all played senior football and are well-credentialed, I guess.”
Knights said even if it was during the regular season that those players wouldn’t be risked this week, although he did confirm Lloyd and McPhee would be ready to play next week – a huge bonus should the Bombers make it through to the NAB Cup grand final.
“[Lloyd’s] a very good chance for the following week, I’d have thought he’d definitely play barring any interruptions between now and then. And I’d thought McPhee would play the week after as well,” he said.
Knights is also optimistic about Winderlich’s recovery from a back injury which has denied the speedy winger a full pre-season. It's the only major asterisk to a near-perfect summer at Windy Hill.
“Jason Winderlich has probably had his best week for six or seven weeks,” Knights said.
“He’s been a bit of a concern, because he wasn’t making much ground with that back injury.
“But I wouldn’t have thought he’d play the following week. I’d still be thinking he’s at least another couple of weeks away.”
