PORT Adelaide will go into Saturday night’s NAB Cup clash with Carlton with what must be its youngest ever side.
Only two players older than 25 will be out there, and only two of its seven-man leadership group will play.
And for the first time in many years, it will play without a Cornes or a Burgoyne in the side.
But with such a young line-up comes opportunity, and the Power’s youngest player, 17-year-old draftee Marlon Motlop will get that opportunity after an impressive internal trial last weekend.
He is the only new player to make the 28-man squad but there will be chances for four other players yet to make their AFL debut – half-backs Paul Stewart, who impressed last week, and Ryan Williams, ruckman Jonathan Giles, and rookie full-back Gavin Grose, who was a late replacement for Robbie Gray.
Dean Brogan has been named to lead the ruck, meaning Giles and/or Fabian Deluca will support.
Brogan and skipper Warren Tredrea are the over 25s in the line-up. The two players from the leadership group are Tredrea and Dom Cassisi.
The experienced players missing from the named 28 are: Peter Burgoyne (shoulder), Shaun Burgoyne (rested), Chad Cornes (rested), Kane Cornes (rested), Brendon Lade (quad), Toby Thurstans (rested) and Michael Wilson (achilles). They are joined by three newly drafted players Matt Lobbe, Matthew Westhoff and Mitch Farmer, along with untried ruckman Hugh Minson, youngster Adam Thomson, who rolled his ankle recently, and Robbie Gray, who was a late withdrawl.
Power assistant coach Matthew Primus said it was important some players were rested at this time of year.
“We’ve had a limited pre-season compared to last year and we’re mindful of making sure our players are cherry ripe for Round 1,” he said.
“So there’s going to be a younger group out there this weekend and we’re looking for them to step up because that’s where our improvement will come from this year.”
From the 28 named, two will become emergencies, leaving eight players on the bench.
The Power takes on Carlton on Saturday from 5.40pm at AAMI Stadium. Tickets will be available from the gate from $15.50 for adults.
The two 28-man squads are as follows…
Port Adelaide
1 - Warren Tredrea
3 - Steven Salopek
4 - Daniel Motlop
9 - Jacob Surjan
10 - Travis Boak
11 - Marlon Motlop
12 - Nathan Lonie
14 - Paul Stewart
15 - David Rodan
16 - Danyle Pearce
19 - Ryan Williams
20 - Dean Brogan
22 - Greg Bentley
24 - Damon White
25 - Domenic Cassisi
26 - Nick Lower
27 - Alipate Carlile
29 - Nathan Krakouer
30 - Troy Chaplin
32 - Matt Thomas
33 - Brett Ebert
34 - Adam Cockshell
36 - Michael Pettigrew
37 - Fabian Deluca
38 - Jonathan Giles
39 - Justin Westhoff
42 - Gavin Grose
44 - Tom Logan
Carlton
2 – Jordan Russell
3 – Marc Murphy
4 – Bryce Gibbs
6 – Kade Simpson
8 – Matthew Kreuzer
9 – Jason Saddington
14 – Brad Fisher
16 – Shaun Grigg
18 – Paul Bower
19 – Eddie Betts
21 – Mark Austin
22 – Shaun Hampson
24 – Nick Stevens
25 – Brendan Fevola
27 – Dennis Armfield
28 – Cameron Cloke
29 – Heath Scotland
30 – Jarrad Waite
31 – Jordan Bannister
32 – Bret Thornton
33 – Ryan Houlihan
34 – Simon Wiggins
36 – Darren Pfeiffer
37 – Jake Edwards
38 – Ryan Jackson
40 – Michael Jamison
44 – Andrew Carrazzo
46 – David Ellard
