MELBOURNE has confirmed its final 22 for Sunday’s clash against Carlton at the MCG, with midfielder Ben Newton recalled and utility Rohan Bail left out of the team.
First-year Demons Angus Brayshaw and Alex Neal-Bullen have been named on the bench, along with former co-captain Jack Grimes and Newton.
Ball-winner Aidan Riley, ruckman Mark Jamar and Bail are the emergencies.
Newton will play his first match for Melbourne since round 10 against Collingwood at the MCG. He has played eight games since crossing from Port Adelaide at the end of 2014.
As announced on Thursday night, Billy Stretch and Christian Salem came into the side and were named in the starting 18.
Neville Jetta will miss the game with a neck injury and Matt Jones has been omitted.
Salem, who was set to return last week but withdrew with illness, will play his first game since round seven.
The skillful defender had started his season strongly before he was sidelined with hamstring injuries.
Manager of football operations Josh Mahoney said prior to his illness, Salem had earned his spot through strong VFL form.
“Christian was picked in the side last week after three good games in the VFL,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“He unfortunately got ill before the game but he’s available for selection this week and he’s back in the side.”
Coach Paul Roos was also pleased to welcome Salem back in the team.
“We would’ve picked him last week, but he was crook,” he said.
“Christian got crook after training [last Saturday], so he’ll play this week and he proved he’s a really important player for us earlier in the year.”
Stretch was an emergency for last week’s game against the Western Bulldogs and returns to the team after two weeks at Casey.
One of five players in this week’s team to have debuted in 2015, Stretch has played eight AFL games in his first season.
“We’ve been very pleased with Billy’s year,” Mahoney said.
“He’s shown good performances at VFL level and at AFL level and last week performed very well in Casey’s loss against Williamstown and deserves another opportunity.
“We’ve also been pleased with the development of Alex Neal-Bullen, James Harmes, Angus Brayshaw and Jesse Hogan, who have all developed well in their first year of AFL and we’re looking for them to finish off the season strongly.”
Scans cleared Jetta of serious damage to his neck, but the small defender has been rested as a precautionary measure.
“Nev was cleared of any major damage in his neck but we still felt that we needed to take a cautious approach and he won’t be playing in this week’s game,” Mahoney said.
Roos said the Demons would asses Jetta’s situation next week.
“Most of the scans around his neck are fine, so it’s more of a matter of seeing how he pulls up next week,” he said.
“He’s had a lot of head injuries this year, but I don’t think there was any concussion involved – it was more around his neck.
“We’ll convene early next week to see where he gets to.”
Bail has played six games this year, while Jamar and Riley have played five and four games respectively this season.
Melbourne team: round 21
B: Colin Garland, Lynden Dunn, Jeremy Howe
HB: Daniel Cross, Tom McDonald, Christian Salem
C: Billy Stretch, Bernie Vince, Heritier Lumumba
HF: Viv Michie, Chris Dawes, James Harmes
F: Jeff Garlett, Jesse Hogan, Jack Watts
Foll: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Jack Viney
I/C: Angus Brayshaw, Ben Newton, Alex Neal-Bullen, Jack Grimes
Emg: Aidan Riley, Mark Jamar, Rohan Bail
In: Ben Newton, Christian Salem, Billy Stretch
Out: Neville Jetta (neck), Rohan Bail, Matt Jones
