Bendigo Bombers coach Adrian Hickmott has called on Essendon listed goal-kicking prospects Darcy Daniher, Jay Neagle and John Williams to stand-up and produce near goals.
Bendigo face third placed Port Melbourne this Saturday in what looms as a testing battle and Hickmott says that to secure a win the forward line must work extremely hard.
""Last week, missed opportunities cost us the game to Geelong at Windy Hill,"" he said.
“Our highest goal scorer this year is Scott Lucas who hasn’t played in the team for over five weeks so we need one of our forwards really step up in their role.
“The second highest goal kicker is equal between David Zaharakis, Stacey Fiske and Michael Quinn who has been moved into the reserves this week because of the 12/10 rule.
“Depending on James Bristow’s fitness test on Friday, will determine where Paul Scanlon will play.
""If James doesn’t come up, Scanlon will go into the backline. Ultimately we’d like to see him forward though, we need goal kickers.
“We want to see Daniher, Neagle, Williams or even young Lachlan Delahunty having a shot at goal whenever the ball is within fifty.
“At the moment the guys seem to give the ball up, this may come down to a lack of confidence.
“We want them to mark the ball, stay strong over the ball and keep it within 50 and aim to be a leading goal kicker in our team.
“We expect the on-ballers to run with the ball and get it inside our forward fifty at all costs.
""Flaherty was our best player in the game last week; one aspect of his game he could improve on is his use of the ball.
“His game has a likeness to that of Prestigiacomo from Collingwood. He does his job week in and week out, and he doesn’t really need to touch the ball, as long as he stops the bloke he is playing on.""
There are four changes to the Bendigo team this week with both Hayden Skipworth and Jay Nash returning from injury.
“Skipworth missed last week with a sore knee, we were monitoring his body but he’ll come in this week which is great for us and Nash is coming in off a sore heel. Nash will give us plenty of run and experience,"" Hickmott said.
""Brodie A’Vard is our twenty-third player this week; he usually plays in the TAC cup. It will be his first experience at senior footy, very exciting for him.
“Lachlan Delahunty is a 19 year-old who has had a few senior games, kicked five goals in the reserves winning team last week, so he has an opportunity to prove himself up forward.
“Tom German and Michael Quinn play in the reserves this week, because of the 12/10 rule, along with Chris Procktor.
“We lost Jack Redpath last week (knee) which was a massive blow for us. We were planning on playing him for the rest of the year, he’s got good height, and he’s courageous and tough, so it is really disappointing.""
Scans this week have shown that Redpath has done his anterier cruciate ligament (ACL), which can take up to twelve months to recover from.
“He’s still keen. He’s looking at coming back in eight months for the start of the 2010 season. He turns 19 in December, so he’s still got a big future ahead of him,"" Hickmott said.
""Jack came into training last night and he was full of smiles and praise for Doc Reid for getting the scans done so quickly. They’ve booked him in for the operation in two weeks.
“I think he’s enjoying all of the special attention he is getting. He’s definitely turned a negative into a positive.""
B: Thompson Flaherty Jetta
HB: Weekley Bristow Atkinson
C: Lovett-Murray Zaharakis Houli
HF: Williams Nash Delahunty
F: Fiske Daniher Neagle
Foll: Bellchambers Myers Skipworth
Int: Holmes, A'Vard, Hoffacker, Hulme, Scanlon
Emg: S. Crameri, Quinn, R. Taylor, Carroll
INS: Skipworth, Delahunty, Nash, A'Vard
OUTS: Redpath, Quinn, German, Procktor
The match against Port Melbourne will kick off at 2pm Saturday 18 July at Teac Oval.
