Magpies coy with line-up
Stars as emergencies
GLENORCHY will keep North Hobart guessing on the make-up of its side until the lodgement of team sheets on Saturday for their crunch TSL clash.
The Pies, fresh from a bye after a morale-boosting onepoint victory in round four against the Tigers, were expected to regain a host of stars.
Midfielders Sam Rundle and Matt Dilger were late withdrawals from the last start win, while best and fairest winner Ben Kamaric has spent the past month on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury in round two.
Despite flagging earlier in the week the trio would likely return against the Demons, coach Paul Kennedy has named all three as emergencies for the showdown at KGV.
North Hobart has made two changes from the team which narrowly went down to unbeaten ladder leader Launceston, with Jayden Charlton (shoulder) and Angus Norton replaced by George McLeod and Tyler McGuinness.
Clarence’s hopes of toppling the Blues on the road have been dealt a blow, with skipper Brady Jones and AFL draft hopeful Oli Davis to miss the trip to Windsor Park. Jones picked up an ankle injury in the loss to the Tigers last weekend, while Davis (quad) has a niggle and will not be risked with expected heavy conditions.
Noah Holmes and James Bealey (hamstring) are also unavailable, while Dylan Howlett (knee) has been named but remains in doubt.
“We have been struck with injury this week, we will have a few miss out,” coach Jeromey Webberley said.
“One bad performance, we had been pretty good for three weeks so we are not going to swing the axe, but understanding we want a response this week for what is a really challenging test.
“Brady Jones won’t play … Oli Davis has a little quad, he is probably touch and go but obviously draft year, some significant rain around, so we are going to give him the week off.”
The Blues will be without veteran Tim Bristow, who strained his hamstring in the opening minutes last weekend.
Tigers recalled Nathan Duggan to replace Lachie Clifford (broken collarbone) for the away trip to North Launceston, which recalled forward Tom Bennett.