Roos selection dilemma

KANGAROOS skipper Jack Ziebell believes the club’s coaching staff will have a few healthy selection headaches on their hands come the opening round of the AFL season in three weeks.

Ziebell said in Hobart yesterday that wins over Sydney and Hawthorn in the opening two games of the JLT Community Series would leave coach Brad Scott with a few selection headaches for the Roos’ opening game on March 26 against West Coast at Etihad Stadium.

Ziebell was named in the best players against Hawthorn at Arden St on Sunday, along with ruckman Braydon Preuss (three goals) and fellow big man Todd Goldstein (one goal).

“Preuss is going well,” Ziebell said.

“He’s been training really well this pre-season and it’s a bit of reward for effort getting his opportunity in the pre-season competition this year.

“I think there’s a few headaches the coaches will have coming in Round 1 and not only for that [ruck] position, but for other positions.

“I think we’ve got a lot of younger guys playing really well in the JLT series and hopefully we can continue that and try and put some headaches in the coaches’ minds come Round 1.”

However, Ziebell said that more needed to be done before Round 1.

“The guys played well on the weekend against Hawthorn,” he said.

“But in saying that, there’s a lot of work to be done and a lot more preparation needs to go into the next couple of weeks before we start Round 1.”

Ziebell said that the losses of Brent Harvey and Michael Firrito (retired) and Drew Petrie (West Coast) had brought a new mindset to the squad.

“We’re ushering in a new era of confidence and the players are really sensing the opportunity going forward,” he said.

“Without them it’s a little bit different but in saying that, it’s also exciting as the change has been a good one for our footy club and the young guys are sensing that opportunity.”