BRANT Colledge's debut will not be compromised by the fact he did not play any football last week, says West Coast coach Adam Simpson.
Colledge flew to Melbourne last week as the travelling emergency but did not play in the Eagles’ 93-point win over the Demons on Sunday. He was unable to play for East Perth in the WAFL last Saturday as a result but Simpson believes the 19-year-old will not be affected on Saturday night against St Kilda.
"Sometimes it can be quite a distraction when you’re the carry-over player and sometimes you think you’re probably out of the mix for the next week," Simpson said.
"But he was a legitimate chance to play last week and we thought on the basis of what we need, he fits the bill, so we had no problem playing him this week."
Colledge was drafted by West Coast with pick No.45 in the 2012 NAB AFL draft. The 192cm utility had his first season on the Eagles list curtailed by an ongoing ankle problem that required surgery last July.
The youngster was impressive in his only NAB Challenge appearance against the Sydney Swans, gathering 15 disposals and kicking two goals.
Simpson has been very pleased with Colledge's progression this pre-season and believes he could play a significant role either in the starting side or as the substitute.
"He’ll just play what he’s been doing over pre-season and at East Perth, a forward that can pinch-hit on ball," Simpson said.
Aside from Colledge's debut, the other significant milestone this week is Dean Cox equalling Glen Jakovich's club games record at 276. Simpson is a bit surprised at how little fanfare there has been but was full of praise for Cox.
"It's been a little bit low key hasn't it?" Simpson said.
"Hopefully he's around long enough to break it and we'll make more of a deal of it but it's exceptional.
"He's in our leadership group. He's our ruck coach. He provides a spark and he takes a really good on-field leadership role for me and for the club.
"He's been quite impressive how he's gone about it since I've been here."
