West Coast coach Adam Simpson says the makeup of the Eagles’ backline could hold the key to taking the four points against North on Sunday.
With Jarrad Waite, Ben Brown and the Roos’ resting ruckman in Todd Goldstein and Braydon Preuss all set to roam in the forward 50, the Eagles will have a lot of talls to contend with.
“We’ll look at that with what North have got and what we’ve go,” Simpson said.
“It’s an interesting part of the game that; talls versus smalls or talls versus talls. That’ll play itself out in the next few days.”
The Eagles will boast a strong running contingent to face the Kangaroos on Sunday, with Chris Masten and Mark Hutchings joining Redden on the interchange bench.
Will Schofield travelled to Melbourne as the emergency.
While Simpson knows what to expect from the North key forwards, the same can’t be said about the raft of Roos set to debut. However, he insists North’s new faces won’t change the way he wants his side to play.
“This time of year, there are debutants everywhere so it’s not surprising … you look at the style they’ve played and the type of brand of footy they’ve been playing over the JLT series and combined with what they’ve been doing over the years … we’ve got a pretty good insight into what they’re trying to do and how they want to go about it.”
In stark contrast to North’s young side, the Eagles will be bursting at the seams with experience.
“It’s a mature group – they’ve done all the work,” Simpson said.
One of West Coast’s veterans is former Roo Drew Petrie who will debut for the Eagles against his old side after playing 316 games in 16 seasons for the Kangaroos.
The 34-year-old is set to team up with fellow recruit Nathan Vardy to shoulder the ruck duties against Roos star Todd Goldstein and Braydon Preuss in a tough initiation for the new Eagles combo.
Simpson isn't expecting to win the hit-outs, but he just wants his big men to compete.
"I rucked under Drew (at North) for a little while many years ago, so I know what his capabilities are and I know his strengths – and I'm pretty sure North do too – as a ruckman," Simpson said.
"They're pretty basic (strengths). He has a go and he follows up, so as long as he brings that, we'll be OK."
Simpson has sought out his former teammate for a chat about handling the occasion, which comes just six months after his emotional Roos farewell.
"Conversations have been had. I'm sure he'll have nerves," Simpson said.
"You have nerves right up until your last game no matter who you play, especially round one.
"This will be a little bit different, though."
West Coast's team v North
B: Shannon Hurn, Eric Mackenzie, Brad Sheppard
HB: Jackson Nelson, Jeremy McGovern, Sharrod Wellingham
C: Elliot Yeo, Matt Priddis, Andrew Gaff
HF: Mark LeCras, Jack Darling, Lewis Jetta
F: Jamie Cripps, Josh Kennedy, Josh Hill
Fol: Nathan Vardy, Luke Shuey, Sam Mitchell
Int: Chris Masten, Jack Redden, Drew Petrie, Mark Hutchings
Emer: Dom Sheed, Will Schofield, Thomas Barrass
