Adelaide has included six new faces in a strong squad to play West Coast at Unley Oval on Sunday.
Draftee Wayne Milera Junior, recruits Paul Seedsman, Troy Menzel and Dean Gore and second-year forwards Mitch McGovern and Harry Dear could all make their AFL Crows debuts.
The 29-man squad will be reduced to 26 on Sunday ahead of the opening bounce at 1:35pm (local).
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Milera, 18, was Adelaide’s first pick (No.11 overall) in last year’s AFL National Draft. The agile and skilful wingman, who played league football for Central District in 2015, has made a smooth transition in his first AFL pre-season.
Seedsman, 24, joined the Crows during last year’s AFL Trade Period after 49 games for Collingwood. The long-kicking wingman is set to play his first NAB Challenge game in three years on the back of the strongest pre-season of his AFL career to-date.
Menzel and Gore also became Crows in October’s exchange period. Menzel, 21, played 40 games in three seasons with Carlton. Gore, 19, represented Geelong in the 2015 NAB Challenge, but is yet to make his AFL debut.
McGovern, 21, is in line to make his Crows AFL debut against his older brother Jeremy’s team.
At 191cm and 89kg, the West Australian is an athletic, third tall forward with x-factor. He was originally recruited with Adelaide’s third pick (No.43 overall) in the 2014 AFL National Draft. McGovern was limited to 11 SANFL games last year because of injury.
Dear, 19, joins housemate McGovern in the Crows squad.
Selected with pick No.58 in 2014, Dear is a, 197cm, 102kg, competitive key forward. He is the son of former Hawthorn premiership player and Norm Smith Medallist, Paul Dear. Dear’s first season at Adelaide was marred by a shoulder reconstruction.
See Adelaide’s statistical history in the pre-season competition
The Club has applied a ‘no-risk’ policy to young midfielder Brad Crouch, who experienced general soreness after Adelaide’s match simulation training on Friday.
Forwards Charlie Cameron (knee) and Riley Knight (ankle), and defenders Andy Otten (knee), Ricky Henderson (back) and Matthew Jaensch (knee) were unavailable for selection.
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In the first two rounds of the NAB Challenge, clubs can name squads of up to 26 players (18 on the field and eight on the interchange) plus three emergencies. See all the 2016 NAB Challenge rules.
The weather forecast for Sunday is a hot 37 degrees Celsius. The AFL has the capacity to enforce a hot weather policy, which could lead to longer breaks at each change. There is no interchange cap in the opening two rounds of the pre-season competition.
Sunday’s game at Unley Oval is Adelaide’s only pre-season game in South Australia this year. The Crows will travel to Mount Barker in WA in round two and finish the NAB Challenge with a hit-out against Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on Friday, March 11.
All NAB Challenge matches will be broadcast live on Fox Footy, and on the AFL Live App with a free trial pass. More information
The squad of 29 is:
4. Josh Jenkins
5. Scott Thompson
6. Jake Lever
7. Nathan van Berlo
8. Mitch Grigg
9. Rory Sloane
11. Paul Seedsman
12. Daniel Talia
13. Taylor Walker
14. David Mackay
15. Kyle Hartigan
16. Luke Brown
18. Eddie Betts
21. Rory Atkins
24. Sam Jacobs
25. Kyle Cheney
26. Richard Douglas
27. Tom Lynch
28. Cam Ellis-Yolmen
29. Rory Laird
30. Wayne Milera
31. Jarryd Lyons
32. Troy Menzel
33. Brodie Smith
34. Sam Shaw
36. Dean Gore
38. Harry Dear
41. Mitch McGovern
44. Matt Crouch
