Lower, who has been in brilliant form in the SANFL, has been rewarded with selection to play his fifth AFL match.
As expected Shaun Burgoyne will make his much anticipated return from suspension, while Jacob Surjan’s strong form for the Magpies in the SANFL has earned him a spot in the Power’s team.
Here’s Power General Manager – Football Operations Peter Rohde’s inside word on this week’s selection…
We’ve obviously lost Toby Thurstans with a medial ligament strain, which happened in the last quarter of the game against Carlton. He’ll be out for about a month but hopefully he’ll be back after the split round.
Paul Stewart’s neck recovered pretty well from that collision last week but it was still a bit stiff today and we didn’t want to risk him in such a big game. He should be right next week.
Nathan Krakouer also goes out and is a bit unlucky. He’s played a couple of games and played quite well but we just feel that going to play Geelong, who are a very mature and strong team, we’d just like some bigger bodied players in there.
Nick Lower comes in for his first game since the end of 2006. He’s been an emergency a number of times this year and last and he’s had some very consistent form for Norwood, so he deserves his chance. We’re hoping he’ll play with a physical presence on-ball or on the half back flank.
Shaun is back from suspension. He’s a vital clearance player and we’ve missed him while he’s been away. He gives us a spark around the packs and it means we can play a couple of players in some different roles, so it gives us some versatility. He’s also a great goal-kicker.
Surjan had one week out and did very well back at the Magpies and we certainly see some good match-ups for him against Geelong.
Damon White is quite unlucky. People probably thought with Thurstans going out that Damon would come in, but Geelong generally only play two tall forwards and we’ve probably been a bit tall anyway. Nathan Lonie has also had some good form in the SANFL but he’ll just have to wait for his turn.
Talk to you next week!
The Power’s final 22 to face the Cats, as named at 4.30pm on Friday, is as follows…
B: Michael Pettigrew, Alipate Carlile, Michael Wilson
HB: Peter Burgoyne, Troy Chaplin, Steven Salopek
C: Domenic Cassisi, Chad Cornes, Kane Cornes
HF: David Rodan, Warren Tredrea, Travis Boak
F: Daniel Motlop, Justin Westhoff, Robbie Gray
Foll: Dean Brogan, Shaun Burgoyne, Danyle Pearce
Interchange: Tom Logan, Brendon Lade, Nick Lower , Jacob Surjan, Emergencies: Nathan Krakouer, Damon White, Nathan Lonie
IN: Burgoyne, Surjan, Lower
OUT: Thurstans (knee), Stewart (neck), Krakouer (omitted)
