Blease back for Pies
Melbourne has named exciting youngster Sam Blease for Saturday night’s second round NAB Cup clash against Collingwood at Etihad Stadium
Blease was not considered for Melbourne’s opening NAB Cup round against Gold Coast Suns and Brisbane Lions at Metricon Stadium, after he missed a compulsory meeting.
He was particularly impressive in Melbourne’s intra-club clash at Casey Fields in the lead-up to NAB Cup.
Youngsters Lucas Cook, Troy Davis, Kelvin Lawrence and Jai Sheahan have also been included.
And the Demons have rested senior players Mitch Clark, Brent Moloney, Jared Rivers and Clint Bartram.
As expected, co-captain Jack Grimes will miss two matches with a shoulder injury, sustained at training on Wednesday.
Grimes suffered the setback at Gosch’s Paddock, when he was involved in a pack situation with teammates Davis and Blease.
For Davis, Lawrence and Sheahan, they will be playing their first NAB Cup match.
Defender Davis and small forward Lawrence, now in their second season with the club, showed some promising signs in the VFL last year.
Sheahan, a 196cm tall, was Melbourne’s first selection in last December’s NAB AFL Rookie Draft.
Cook made one NAB Cup appearance last year.
The key forward was Melbourne’s first selection in the 2010 NAB AFL Draft.
Melbourne squad
2 Nathan Jones
4 Jack Watts
5 Jordan Gysberts
6 Matthew Bate
7 Jamie Bennell
8 James Frawley
12 Colin Sylvia
14 Lynden Dunn
15 Ricky Petterd
17 Sam Blease
18 Brad Green
20 Colin Garland
21 Lucas Cook
25 Tom McDonald
26 Daniel Nicholson
28 Joel Macdonald
30 James Sellar
34 Stefan Martin
36 Aaron Davey
38 Jeremy Howe
40 Mark Jamar
41 Troy Davis
44 Rohan Bail
45 Kelvin Lawrence
46 Josh Tynan
47 Tom Couch
48 Jack Fitzpatrick
49 James Magner
50 Jai Sheahan
Want to own the limited edition Reach Foundation guernsey being worn by the Demons in the NAB Cup? A small batch of these guernseys will be available exclusively from the Demon Shop for a very limited time. Buy one today from the Online Demon Shop, or bid to win a match worn guernsey from Demon Auctions.