WATCH Tom Logan's SUPERgoal from the NAB Cup above
Defender Tom Logan and forward Cameron Hitchcock will play their first games for the Power in 2012, after being named in a final 22 for Sunday’s clash at AAMI Stadium against Richmond.
See the final 22 here
The duo has been recalled from Glenelg for the Round 6 clash, joining Daniel Stewart who returns after missing one game.
Stewart comes in for Jay Schulz who is out with an eye injury, while Hitchcock covers the loss of Chad Wingard to a hurt shoulder.
Logan replaces Danyle Pearce who has been omitted from the side after playing the first five games of the season.
Port Adelaide general manager football Peter Rohde said Logan - who played 20 games in 2011, finishing third in the club’s best and fairest count - earned his promotion through good form with Glenelg in the SANFL.
“Tom has played a lot of footy for us as a small back,” Rohde told PortAdelaideFC.com.au
“He’s had his minor pre-season injury issues … but he’s played three games at Glenelg and his form’s been good.
“He’s forced his way into the team. A lot of our supporters and members would relish the chance to bring Tom in when he’s in good form like he is.”
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Pearce - who has played more at half-back in 2012 - will go back to Sturt in a bid to regain form.
“We played him down back a lot in the pre-season, and in the season he’s probably struggled to control his man a little bit as a defender,” Rohde said.
“We think that he’s probably struggling a little bit with the role. He’s just got to work on his form and his kicking has let him down. He’s made some mistakes like a lot of our players have under pressure.
“He’s got to get back to his best form because we know in good form he brings a lot to our team. He brings things to our side that we really need in there.”
Hitchcock’s consistent efforts at Glenelg earned him a recall ahead of Brett Ebert, who’d also been named in the Power’s 25-man squad following a five-goal haul for the Magpies last weekend.
Rohde said Hitchcock was an ideal replacement for Wingard, who presents as a ball-carrier through the middle of the ground and also a small goal-scoring threat.
“Hitchy’s played four games back in the SANFL,” Rohde said.
“He’s kicked about 10 goals in three weeks so he’s a man in very good form. He plays the Wingard sort of role. We need someone who can help us with our ball movement up between the arcs and run a lot, but also get inside 50 and crumb the ball and be the small goal-kicker.”
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Hitchcock’s promotion marks his return from successful shoulder surgery over summer.
“He missed a lot of time in January and February, but if there’s a good thing about shoulders it means they can keep running and doing the conditioning work on their legs, so they do tend to come back to fitness quicker,” Rohde said.
Stewart returns to fill the marking forward role vacated by the loss of Schulz, but he also adds ruck depth beneath Brent Renouf.
“We struggled to play all the talls we wanted to the week before and Daniel missed out, but with Schulz going out he comes into play as a forward and also gives us support in the ruck,” Rohde said.
“We’re more likely to use Jackson (Trengove) as a defender this week, so he won’t be able to go in the ruck as much as he could the week before. So bringing Daniel Stewart in was an obvious move.”
Port Adelaide and the Tigers go head to head at AAMI Stadium from 2.45pm on Sunday.
