Matt Jaensch, Matt Wright and Shaun McKernan have also been rewarded for strong SANFL form, all selected to play their first games of the season.
Defender Graham Johncock will miss Adelaide’s inaugural clash with GWS because of a corked leg, while Andy Otten, Tom Lynch and Sam Kerridge - a late inclusion in the team last week - have been omitted.
Drafted by the Club with pick No.45 in the 2009 AFL Draft, Shaw’s first two seasons at West Lakes were ruined by injury.
The athletic, 193cm, 88kg, backman pulled on the Crows guernsey for the first time in this year’s NAB Cup competition, playing all five games including Adelaide’s Grand Final win over West Coast.
Coach Brenton Sanderson said Shaw had earned a call-up after a string of good performances for Glenelg.
“Prior to this year, Sam had hardly played any footy in the time he’d been on our list,” Sanderson told afc.com.au.
“But he had a good summer. He hardly missed a beat and was very good in the NAB Cup. We couldn’t squeeze him into the team in the first three rounds, but he’s had three really good performances for Glenelg and deserves to play.
“Sam can play as a key defender or third-tall, but if the Giants go small in their forward line there are also no issues with him playing on a smaller opponent. He was actually drafted as a wingman, so there are opportunities to use him in a variety of roles.”
Sanderson said McKernan and Wright had been brought in to help address deficiencies in the team’s performance against Hawthorn last weekend.
“Shaun’s form has been good and he gives us the option of an extra ruckman this week,” he said.
“Last week, Kurt Tippett was presenting really well as a forward, but because we needed him in the ruck too he had to go to the bench to rest, so there were 10-12 minutes at a time where he wasn’t in the forward line.
“We’ll try and keep him more as a forward this week because we’ll have Sam Jacobs and McKernan as additional ruck options. Dean Brogan has a lot of experience. Jonathan Giles has been in the system for a few years and we rate him as well, so we’ll throw two rucks at the Giants this week and sometimes even three.”
Trade-week recruit Tom Lynch, who showed some positive signs in the opening three games, is a casualty of the Club’s decision to include a third ruck option.
“It’s a stiff one for Tommy because he’s kicking goals, but unfortunately because of the balance of the side he’s been squeezed out,” Sanderson said.
“If we played two rucks (McKernan and Jacobs) as well as Tom we probably would’ve been a little bit top heavy in our forward line. He hasn’t played a full game yet because he was the sub the first two weeks and then got subbed out last week.
“We’re bringing in Matt Wright to help with the defensive pressure in our forward line. Hawthorn brought the ball out of its backline too easily last week, and if we wanted to bring McKernan in we needed more ground-level support.”
A late withdrawal from the team to play Hawthorn, Rick Henderson was available for selection but will line-up with Central District to gain match practice on Saturday.
“Hendo didn’t play last week and was subbed the week before,” Sanderson said.
“He’s very much in the big picture for us, but we want to see him play a full game at Centrals this week and get some touch.”
INS: Matt Jaensch, Shaun McKernan, Sam Shaw, Matt Wright
OUTS: Graham Johncock (corked leg), Sam Kerridge, Tom Lynch, Andy Otten (all omitted)
TEAM IS:
B: Sam Shaw, Ben Rutten, Brodie Martin
HB: Brent Reilly, Daniel Talia, Brodie Smith
C: Nathan van Berlo, Patrick Dangerfield, David Mackay
HF: Bernie Vince, Taylor Walker, Jared Petrenko
F: Jason Porplyzia, Kurt Tippett, Ian Callinan
R: Sam Jacobs, Scott Thompson, Rory Sloane
I/C: Michael Doughty, Matt Jaensch, Shaun McKernan, Matt Wright
EMERG: Rick Henderson, Chris Knights, Brad Symes
Adelaide takes on the GWS giants at AAMI Stadium this Saturday at 4.10pm. Click here to purchase tickets and view Saturday’s match day information.
