Quality players boost Suns
ONE team will bring in a dual AFL premiership player and a best and fairest winner; the other will field their third debutant in as many games.
That’s the scenario ahead of the Adelaide and Gold Coast AFL clash at Metricon Stadium tomorrow.
And it’s not what AFL fans would normally expect. Such is the change in the Suns’ fortunes, they are the team bringing in the established stars.
Co-captain David Swallow, a Suns best and fairest winner, and Brandon Ellis, a dual premiership winner with Richmond before joining Gold Coast this season, have both come back into the side after missing Round 2.
Swallow will start in the midfield while Ellis will start on the half-forward flank.
Making way for the pair to return are Brayden Fiorini and Sean Lemmens.
Conversely, the Crows are again having to bring inexperienced players into their team.
Teenage defender Will Hamill will replace the injured Wayne Milera, who was sent for foot surgery on a stress fracture yesterday and is expected to miss two months of football.
But it has opened the door for Hamill, who impressed in his first season of SANFL footy last year, to join Fischer McAsey and Ned McHenry as AFL debutants for the Crows in the first three rounds of 2020.
Hamill, 19, is the only addition to the Crows team after selectors opted against wholesale changes following a 75point loss to Port Adelaide.
SOUTH Australia’s AFL clubs may avoid having to spend three weeks in a Gold Coast hub due to a change in SA’s travel protocols.
The SA Government yesterday announced that people travelling from Queensland to South Australia won’t have to spend 14 days in self-isolation.
The move opens up the chances of Port Adelaide and Adelaide returning to their home state between games.
Both clubs will play their next three games in Queensland, regardless of any change to the travel restrictions.