MELBOURNE has added three players to its squad for Sunday’s clash against the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG.
Defender Colin Garland, hard-nut Tomas Bugg and forward Aaron vandenBerg have been added to the initial line-up.
They have been named on the extended interchange, along with second-year player Angus Brayshaw, speedster Billy Stretch, utility Alex Neal-Bullen and James Harmes, who received a NAB AFL Rising Star when Melbourne played the Suns in round seven.
At this stage, no players have been omitted.
The final team will be announced on Friday evening.
Coach Paul Roos said selection had been another tough one this round.
“It is a balancing act this week because we demanded a better effort from all of our teams last week and we got it,” he told Melbourne TV.
“We got a really good effort from the VFL boys and there were some really good performances from some of the guys who went back [to the VFL] in recent times – [Jack] Grimes, Bugg, [Ben] Kennedy and [Clayton] Oliver.
“We felt the majority of them played their roles [against West Coast Eagles] and played well.
“vandenBerg was out injured last week [but is back in the squad] … so it was a challenge this week to pick a team.
“They all deserve to play, but it’s [harder] to leave guys out rather than the other way around.”
Garland is a chance to play his seventh match for the season and his first since round 10 against Port Adelaide in Alice Springs.
The leader was one of Casey’s best in its win against Sandringham at Casey Fields last Sunday.
Bugg played in Melbourne’s opening 14 matches for the year, but has been an emergency the past two rounds.
He had a whopping 18 tackles playing for the Scorpions last weekend.
vandenBerg has had an interrupted season with injury, playing nine matches, but missing five games from rounds four to eight.
The former rookie also missed last round with a hip complaint.
Key defender Tom McDonald will play his 100th AFL match this round, having also debuted against the Suns in round 23, 2011, when Todd Viney was coach.
Tall forward Chris Dawes will notch up his 50th club game, after playing 71 matches with Collingwood, including the 2010 premiership.
The match starts at 1.10pm.
Melbourne team: round 19
B: Josh Wagner, Tom McDonald, Neville Jetta
HB: Jayden Hunt, Oscar McDonald, Matt Jones
C: Christian Petracca, Bernie Vince, Dom Tyson
HF: Jeff Garlett, Jack Watts, Sam Frost
F: Chris Dawes, Jesse Hogan, Dean Kent
Foll: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Jack Viney
I/C (from): Angus Brayshaw, Billy Stretch, Colin Garland, Alex Neal-Bullen, Tomas Bugg, Aaron vandenBerg, James Harmes
In: Garland, Bugg, vandenBerg
Out: -
