By Jason Phelan
For carltonfc.com.au
BROCK McLean's omission from the Carlton side to face Port Adelaide was more about Ed Curnow's recovery from injury than an indictment on the former Demon's form, according to football manager Steven Icke.
McLean, 25, has been beset by soft tissue injuries, mainly quadriceps and calf-related, since he joined the Blues in exchange for pick 11 before last season and has managed just eight games for the club.
After regaining fitness and working into some form in the VFL following an interrupted pre-season, he got his opportunity when rookie sensation Ed Curnow sprained his right AC joint against St Kilda in round seven.
McLean came in and played against Geelong and Melbourne, his only senior appearances of the season, but was unable to do enough to convince selectors to look elsewhere when the time came to fit Curnow back in the team.
"It's unfortunate for Brock that he's lost his spot, but he lost his spot to the injured player that he replaced," Icke told carltonfc.com.au.
"Ed's form was very, very good up to the point that he got injured and Brock basically came in for Ed, so given that he was in the team for Ed, when Ed was available, then Brock comes out
"Once Ed convinced the medical staff that he was right to play, it was very much the case that he was going to come back into the team given his good early season form.
"Once the decision was made that Ed was going to play then Brock was more than likely going to be the player who was going to miss."
McLean's inability to have a larger impact for his adopted club has disappointed some fans, but Icke said he remained committed to cementing his spot in the Blues' line-up.
"Brock was in really good form prior to being selected, his game has been building at the Northern Bullants since the start of the year, but I think he's the first to admit that he's still got some work to do on his game," he said.
"He's got some clear areas that he needs to go away and work on and he's quite comfortable with that."
Ryan Houlihan, Aaron Joseph, Lachie Henderson and Zach Tuohy were also added to the 25-man squad ahead of Sunday's twilight clash at AAMI Stadium, with Jeremy Laidler the only other definite omission with a knee injury.
The club has already announced Tuohy will make his debut with Icke delighted with the Irishman's progress since joining the club two years ago.
Tuohy's elevation from the rookie list came at the expense of tall forward Luke Mitchell, who had the misfortune of having undergo a second operation on his left shoulder earlier in the week.
"If he was going to continue to play, he was going to do it with some instability in his shoulder and we just wanted to make sure that his long-term welfare was looked after first and foremost," Icke said of the decision to send the youngster in for more surgery.
"He rehabbed from [the first operation in the pre-season] to the point where he was able to play a couple of games with the Bullants, but it wasn't stable enough for him to gain enough confidence to continue on.
"Given that he's a big marking forward who really needs confidence to play the game well, we just thought it was in his best interests to have the operation now so that he can get himself absolutely 100 per cent right and really attack a pre-season."
