Essendon is set to unleash dangerous forward Orazio Fantasia against Carlton on Saturday, with coach John Worsfold confirming he will be one of two changes to the side.
Worsfold said he has full confidence that Fantasia’s preparation would have him cherry ripe for a full senior match against the Blues after overcoming groin soreness.
“We were hopeful he would have been ok last week, but I think the preparation we’ve given him is perfect – to give him a run in the VFL for a half and then he loaded up with some training loading after that game,” Worsfold said on Thursday.
“He’s confident (and) we’re very confident in him.”
Fantasia looks set to inject some pace into the line-up, but Worsfold said the small forward would have plenty more to offer.
“(I’m) really rapt to have him in. His speed is one of his assets, his other asset is obviously the role he plays within the team, not just because of his speed.
“He’s a very good player (and) a very good leader coming through.
“So just having Orazio back in the team, we think he’s definitely part of our best team going forward, it’s great to have him back out there.”
Key-position player Shaun McKernan has also been added to the side for his first senior game of the year and Worsfold said he had been extremely impressed with the tall’s start to the year.
“Shaun’s had a great pre-season, probably the best since I’ve been here,” he said.
“It’s probably the fittest and the strongest he’s been throughout his footy career, so that’s a credit to the work he’s put in and his form’s been showing that.”
McKernan has booted eight goals from his three VFL appearances this year after strong performances in AFLX and the JLT Community Series, and Worsfold said he would be a like-for-like replacement for injured star forward Joe Daniher.
“He hasn’t put a foot wrong and we’re rapt that he gets the opportunity to come in while he’s in such good form.
“He’ll play mainly as a marking forward for us and give us a real good contest in the front half. And then he may do some ruck work and share that load with (James) Stewart and (Tom) Bellchambers as well.”
Daniher is joined by young gun Andrew McGrath on the sidelines after it was revealed last year’s NAB AFL Rising Star winner has suffered a minor calf strain.
“He pulled up with a sore calf a couple of days ago, so he just had it scanned yesterday and unfortunately he’s got a very slight calf strain,” Worsfold said.
“So he’ll definitely miss one game, maybe two, that will be dependent on how he pulls up throughout next week.”
Worsfold recently voiced his intention to play more of the club’s younger brigade throughout the season and said defensive pair Ben McNiece and Conor McKenna and midfielder Kobe Mutch represent that plan against the Blues on Saturday.
He explained that the more experienced duo included this round were simply the best options to replace the team’s withdrawals.
“We’re conscious of how much youth we inject at any given time.
“With Orazio coming back in – he was pretty much an automatic selection – and McKernan was like-for-like.
“We don’t really have another young, developing key forward on the list at this stage.”
The Bombers will look to get their season back on track against the Blues at 2:10pm on Saturday.
FINAL TEAM:
B – Baguley, Hurley, Saad
HB – McKenna, Ambrose, Goddard
C – Fantasia, Z. Merrett, Mutch
HF – Laverde, Stewart, McDonald-Tipungwuti
F – Myers, Hooker, Zaharakis
R – Bellchambers, Smith, Heppell
I/C – McNiece, McKernan, Parish, Stringer
Emergencies – Ridley, Langford, Guelfi, Clarke
IN – Fantasia, McKernan
OUT – Daniher, McGrath
