Swans v Bombers at NSO

[RWO News]

As the AFL season creeps closer, the Sydney Swans will be looking forward to their first serious hit-out of the pre-season next week.

The annual AFL exhibition match at North Sydney Oval between Sydney and Essendon is the first AFL match played in Australia each season, and has quickly gained popularity as the traditional pipe-opener for the two clubs, giving fans a chance to see some of the potential "stars of tomorrow" go through their paces.

This year the match is on Saturday February 14 at 3.30pm. Gates will open at 1pm with players from both clubs presented to the crowd and available for an autograph session pre-match from 1.30pm.

At half time eight schools from the North Shore will take part in an AFL Auskick demonstration under the guidance of AFL Auskick ambassador Robert "Dipper" Dipierdomenico.

Swans' coach Paul Roos will be taking a cautious approach to the game.
"We are a little bit behind where we were last year, starting three weeks later," he said. "We've just got to be a bit careful we don't push too early and get too many injuries during the first couple of trial matches."

The Swans have a lengthy list of players who will not be fit for the clash with the Bombers. Jason Ball, Ben Mathews, Leo Barry, Michael O'Loughlin and Stephen Doyle are still recovering from injuries.

Stuart Maxfield, Paul Williams, Jared Crouch, Barry Hall and Tadhg Kennelly are also unlikely to be ready for the match.

More info -
http://sydneyswans.com.au/default.as...ticleid=131879
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/a...776062506.html

[RWO News]

Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy plans to switch Mark Mercuri to defence for Saturday's practice match against Sydney at North Sydney Oval. Sheedy is hoping the move will revive Mercuri's career.

"There is no reason why it couldn't lengthen Mark's career," Sheedy said.

Sheedy also flagged promising rookie Andrew Lovett and top draft choice Kepler Bradley as certain starters for the NSO match. Sheedy was particularly impressed with Lovett's form in last weekend's intra-club match.

"He is a pretty slick little player, he knows where the ball is going and he is a fast player," Sheedy said of Lovett.

At this stage, only Matthew Allan (hamstring) and Mark McVeigh (ankle)will definitely miss this weekend's game.

Essendon squad: Mark Bolton, Kepler Bradley, Marc Bullen, Tristan Cartledge, James Davies, Ricky Dyson, David Hille, Sam Hunt, Matthew Lloyd, Andrew Lovett, Nathan Lovett-Murray, Mark Mercuri, Justin Murphy, Jay Nash, Damien Peverill, Ted Richards, Brent Stanton, Peter Summers, Darren Walsh, Jobe Watson, Andrew Welsh, Adrian Wilson and Jason Winderlich.

Swans coach Paul Roos will need to work without a number of senior players still recovering from injury.

"It's going to be a good hit-out mainly for the younger guys," Roos said. "We'll have Josh Willoughby, Tim Schmidt, Matthew Davis and Nick Potter playing."

"It will be a good chance for guys like Luke Ablett, Jared Sundqvist, Amon Buchanan, Daniel Hunt, Sean Dempster and Nick Malceski. I'm looking forward to seeing those young guys playing,".

SWANS INJURY LIST

Jason Ball - Shoulder rotator cuff repair - Training but not full competitive work
Nick Davis - Hamstring strain - Sprint training this week, full training next week
Stephen Doyle - Knee - Conditioning training at present
Tadhg Kennelly - Off-season groin surgery - Full training this week
Ben Mathews - Ankle stabilisation - Conditioning training at present
Matthew Nicks - Back soreness - Conditioning training at present
Mark Powell - Off-season groin surgery - Full training this week
Adam Schneider - Hand webbing tear - Full training this week
Luke Taylor - Quad strain - Conditioning training at present
Josh Thewlis - Off-season groin surgery - Full training this week
Rowan Warfe - Hip arthroscope - Conditioning training at present