MELBOURNE will unveil three players for the first time when it takes on Port Adelaide in the second round of the NAB Cup this Sunday.
Rory Taggert, Dom Barry and Nathan Stark will play their first official match for the club, as the Demons take a young and largely inexperienced squad to Renmark in country South Australia, starting at 4pm.
Taggert, a tough ball winner, was Melbourne’s first pick in the 2011 NAB AFL Draft, when he was claimed at No. 36. The 19 year-old managed just three VFL matches in 2012, after his year was rocked by a back injury.
The pacy Barry, a Northern Territory zone selection traded by Greater Western Sydney, came to Melbourne last October via a deal which also netted key forward Jesse Hogan as a 17 year-old trade incentive selection.
Stark, a tenacious midfielder, was selected at No.3 in last December’s NAB AFL Rookie Draft.
Along with Taggert, Barry and Stark, the Demons will also play James Strauss, Josh Tynan, Luke Tapscott, Troy Davis and Jack Fitzpatrick for the first time this year.
Hogan will play again, after impressing considerably upon his first hit-out for the Demons last Friday night against North Melbourne and Richmond at Etihad Stadium.
Colin Sylvia, Cam Pedersen, James Magner, Dan Nicholson and Neville Jetta have been named in the side. They will be the only Demons to have featured in all three games so far this year.
New Demons Tom Gillies, Dean Kent, Matt Jones and Dean Terlich will play against the Power, after they played one match each last week.
Melbourne will be without a host of players, including Jack Trengove (foot), Mitch Clark (foot), James Frawley (eye laceration), Sam Blease (ankle), Rohan Bail (concussion), Max Gawn (hamstring) and Mitch Clisby (hamstring).
Jack Grimes, Nathan Jones, Chris Dawes, Tom McDonald, Jack Watts, Jordie McKenzie, Jeremy Howe, David Rodan, Mark Jamar, Colin Garland, Shannon Byrnes, Lynden Dunn, Jimmy Toumpas and Jack Viney have all been rested.
The Demons will return to Victoria for the third week of the NAB Cup, hosting St Kilda at Casey Fields on March 9 at 2.30 pm.