COACH Dean Bailey says rookie Michael Evans will handle his upcoming AFL debut against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium with aplomb.
Bailey said the midfielder had made the most of his chances with Casey in the VFL this season, and had earned his spot in the Melbourne 22.
“We felt that there was an opportunity for us to play one of our rookies in Michael Evans, who has been in very good form for us in the VFL for the majority of the period,” he said.
“We certainly picked him on his form, and he makes his debut and that’s always an exciting part being a coach - you get to send a good message to him and you get to talk to him about his first game.
“He’s really excited about it and we think he not only deserves the chance, but we think he’ll perform very admirably on the weekend.”
With the Demons copping several injuries in recent weeks, Bailey was philosophical about his side’s loss of key personnel.
“Aussie [Wonaeamirri] hurt himself at training yesterday and I don’t think too badly to be honest,” he said.
“If you can run through 30, 31 or 32 players for the whole year, then you can get consistency in selection, but we play a competitive, physical game, so injuries are going to come.
“You hope that they’re not long-term ones and we’ve got a few blokes who are going to be back in the next few weeks. Jordie McKenzie comes back, so that’s a good one for us.”
Bailey said the midfielder had made the most of his chances with Casey in the VFL this season, and had earned his spot in the Melbourne 22.
“We felt that there was an opportunity for us to play one of our rookies in Michael Evans, who has been in very good form for us in the VFL for the majority of the period,” he said.
“We certainly picked him on his form, and he makes his debut and that’s always an exciting part being a coach - you get to send a good message to him and you get to talk to him about his first game.
“He’s really excited about it and we think he not only deserves the chance, but we think he’ll perform very admirably on the weekend.”
With the Demons copping several injuries in recent weeks, Bailey was philosophical about his side’s loss of key personnel.
“Aussie [Wonaeamirri] hurt himself at training yesterday and I don’t think too badly to be honest,” he said.
“If you can run through 30, 31 or 32 players for the whole year, then you can get consistency in selection, but we play a competitive, physical game, so injuries are going to come.
“You hope that they’re not long-term ones and we’ve got a few blokes who are going to be back in the next few weeks. Jordie McKenzie comes back, so that’s a good one for us.”
