Round 8 AFL teams: Crows back small forwards as Paddy Ryder returns to face Port Adelaide, which will be without Justin Westhoff
Adelaide forward Tyson Stengle has failed to kick a goal and had just 12 touches of the footy since returning in Round 6. But the Crows are backing their small forwards in as they continue to search for their best mix. SEE THE FULL TEAMS
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Adelaide assistant coach Ben Hart is backing out of form small forward duo Tyson Stengle and Shane McAdam to make their impact on the AFL, but says this has to happen soon for the Crows.
The Crows forward line coach also conceded they were still yet to figure out what their best attacking mix was as Adelaide searches for its first win in nearly 12 months against Essendon at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
After returning to the senior side for the past two weeks after a four-game suspension for a drink driving incident Stengle has not kicked a goal for the struggling Crows and only has had 12 touches of the footy.
Given Eddie Betts’ old number after his move to Carlton, Stengle had been showing strong form in the reserve scratch matches for the Crows.
McAdam is wearing Andrew McLeod’s old number and only has the three goals from his four games in 2020.
Hart said he was confident the two would make their mark on games.
He said to do this Stengle needed to bring his speed to the game more and flagged McAdam being deployed further up the ground to get the footy.
“I had a chat with him (Stengle) this week about that,” Hart said on Grandstand SA.
“He was playing really strong footy in the scratch matches, clearly it’s a jump up to the AFL but if he starts to bring his speed to the game that he’s got we know what he can do when he gets his hands on the footy.
“With Shane McAdam maybe (they are looking at) getting Shane a little bit higher up the ground to use some of his attributes and press the game back towards the goal
“They will have their role to play and hopefully Tyson will kick into gear soon.”
The Crows have made two changes to their side that got close to St Kilda on Monday night, only to fall away in the fourth quarter.
Jake Kelly and Ned McHenry make way for Lachlan Murphy and Elliott Himmelberg.
The Bombers are deploying a small forward line and Hart said the Crows might be going too tall back in defence with Daniel Talia, Tom Doedee, Kyle Hartigan and Fischer McAsey.
“Potentially yes, we will probably play more of our talls forward at this stage and we think Hartigan can handle a smaller type of forward as well so that’s the reason why we’ve gone there,” he said.
“Up the front half we just feel like we need some more aerial presence we have missed that a bit in the past couple of weeks.”
He said the Crows were still unsure of what their best mix was up forward.
“To be honest no, not yet,” he said.
“We are throwing a few things around, we have had some guys out of form and we are looking to see what that best mix looks like.”
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RYDER REVISTS MEMORABLE MOMENT
Almost three years ago to the day at Adelaide Oval, Paddy Ryder had one of his “favourite footy moments of all-time” in the best season of his career, as his over-the-back tap led to a Robbie Gray goal that sealed a thrilling two-point Port Adelaide win over St Kilda.
Now the 32-year-old ruckman is preparing for another clash between the clubs on Saturday night, but he will be in Saints colours and trying to avoid hitting the ball to Gray.
Ryder played 73 games for Port from 2015-19, earning All-Australian honours and the club’s best and fairest in 2017, the season of that memorable passage of play.
“That was definitely one of my favourite footy moments of all-time,” Ryder tells News Corp about that July 29, 2017 highlight.
“From my time at Port I had that connection with Robbie from a ruck to a midfielder.
“He knows a bit about what I like to do so I’ll have to be careful of him.”
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Ryder and the Power parted ways at the end of last season when Port wanted to give more opportunities to emerging big man Peter Ladhams.
Joining St Kilda reunited Ryder with ruck coach and Power premiership player Brendon Lade, who had been in the same role at Port.
“It was a very hard decision to make but Port was going in a different direction,” Ryder says.
“The Saints ended up offering me a two-year deal, which is important when you’ve got a family to raise.
“Coming to St Kilda and having Ladey there was a big thing for me.”
This year, Ryder has been sharing the ruck load with Rowan Marshall, who some people, including St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt, say needs to play as the team’s solo big man.
Ryder was dropped for rounds four to six, before returning and impressing in tandem with Marshall in Monday night’s win over Adelaide, an individual performance he put down to “letting people know I’ve still got it”.
“In a perfect world we’re both working well together and being really influential on the team but it doesn’t just happen, you’ve got to give it a bit of time,” Ryder says.
“It was pretty tough when I got dropped, but once I sat back and reflected on how I was going about it, I looked within myself to come up with improvements.
“Sometimes when you get to your 30s, people just look towards the youth … but I still feel like I’ve got a lot to give and can play a big role for the team.
“A lot of people think it’s best for St Kilda to have Rowan rucking the whole game … but I’m sure with my strengths we can work together so we get the best out of both of us.”
Ryder will face off against Ladhams, who he calls “a really good mover”, on Saturday night because Port’s first-choice ruckman Scott Lycett is absent with a knee injury.
In the lead-up to the game, Ryder has been exchanging banter-filled messages with close Port friends Sam Powell-Pepper and Todd Marshall and reckons it will weird out on the ground.
Another memorable Adelaide Oval moment for Ryder was when he and Powell-Pepper hugged fans after the siren when the Power won the Showdown by two points in 2018 after Steven Motlop’s goal.
But the former Essendon star is unsure how the crowd will treat his return on Saturday night.
“I’ve always given 100 per cent for the Port fans, hung around for a photo, signed an autograph,” he says.
“I didn’t really get to say goodbye to the fans properly.
“I know how loud and passionate they are but hopefully we don’t get to hear a lot of that.”
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HINKLEY SAYS WESTHOFF HAD TO GO, BUT HE KNOWS IT
Veteran Justin Westhoff’s downturn in form may have cost him a spot in Port Adelaide’s side for its clash against St Kilda on Saturday night, but he will be needed during the compressed fixture period.
The ladder-leading Power dropped the 33-year-old utility on Thursday night, as part of three changes.
Steven Motlop (ankle) and Ryan Burton (quad) were Port’s other outs, while Brad Ebert, one-game forward Mitch Georgiades and Riley Bonner returned.
Westhoff had just three disposals in the Power’s thrilling three-point win over Carlton and five in the loss to Brisbane earlier this month.
Port coach Ken Hinkley expected the 275-game utility, who was also dropped for two rounds last year, to return soon with four matches squeezed into 15 days on the horizon.
“Westy’s form hasn’t been as good as we’d like it to be and he knows that himself,” Hinkley said.
“He’ll come back, he’ll bounce back.
“We’ve got a challenging little period coming up and he’ll play some part in that, I’m sure.
“He’s a true utility so wherever we need him, we need him to play that role better.
“At the moment it’s been a little more forward/ruck and he hasn’t been able to influence the game enough in those two areas … and we think we need to look at some other options.”
Hinkley expected Motlop to miss two weeks and Burton to be sidelined for three to four matches.
Injuries have restricted former Hawthorn defender Burton to four games this season and 16 last year.
“It’s a hard one because in racing speak, he’s a thoroughbred, he’s highly strung and he’s a really powerful athlete and those players, there’s always a risk with them,” Hinkley said.
“He’s still only young and developing in his body and his strength, and when he’s ready, he’ll play.”
Hinkley said Connor Rozee was “right to go” after overcoming a heel injury and getting through Port Adelaide’s light session on Friday.
“Connor’s fine, he’s right to go,” he said.
“He’s got a pretty simple injury and there’s not too much concern in it but if it becomes any more of a concern, we just wouldn’t play him.”
Hinkley was looking forward to playing — and beating — two former Power charges, St Kilda recruits Paddy Ryder and Dougal Howard, in the club’s first home game since the Round 2 Showdown.
“Both are great blokes, both fantastic people and been good players for our club over the journey, but they’re now opposition players,” he said.
“(The game) will be exciting.
“It’ll feel like it’s 50 (thousand) when we get here tomorrow night and our players are looking forward to the opportunity.”
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Port Adelaide has axed veteran forward Justin Westhoff for its clash with St Kilda at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, but wounded youngster Connor Rozee has been named despite being unable to fully train this week.
Rozee, whose heel soreness has kept him off his legs during training, was quiet in the Power’s thrilling three-point win over Carlton last weekend with eight disposals and one behind. Westhoff, 33, meanwhile, was held scoreless by the Blues’ defenders and kept to only three touches.
The Power have recalled exciting young forward Mitch Georgiades to replace the 275-game Westhoff.
Brad Ebert also returns to the top-of-the-table Power after serving a one-match ban for rough conduct and is a like-for-like replacement for injured forward Steven Motlop (ankle), while Riley Bonner comes in for defender Ryan Burton (quad).
With Port’s No. 1 ruckman, Scott Lycett, still a week or two away with a knee injury, back-up ruck Peter Ladhams – in his seventh game of AFL – will come up against former Power teammate Paddy Ryder.
Port Adelaide captain Tom Jonas said the Ladhams/Ryder match-up would prove a good challenge for the 202cm 22-year-old.
“We know what Paddy delivers, he’s a beautiful tap ruckman, it’s going to be a big challenge for our midfield and our ruckman to compete with him and then hopefully around the ground we can nullify him and hopefully get off him and do some damage,” Jonas said.
“ (Ladhams is) a young player coming through and wanting to make a name for himself, and it’s a great challenge that (Ryder’s) someone he’s learnt a lot of his craft from over the last few years,” Jonas said.
“The opportunity to put that on display against the man himself will be great.”
NICKS DEMANDS MORE FROM MIDFIELD AT THE COALFACE
Crows coach Matthew Nicks has sent out a challenge to his midfield group for them to change their mindset at centre bounces.
Adelaide lost centre clearances against St Kilda 7-14 and Nicks hopes to see an improvement in Sunday’s game against Essendon at Adelaide Oval.
“It’s an area that’s really hurting us, we’re way off in that stat and it’s a really important one because everything starts from there,” he said.
“We’ve been looking hard at that both from a system point of view, but also mindset and a little bit of structure.”
The challenge comes as the Crows have rested Ned McHenry as a precaution for general soreness, with Lachlan Murphy coming in his place for Sunday’s game.
“Essendon are very strong across half back, a lot of their running players across there are damaging, so we felt that taking a small (forward) out who was going to help us on the ground, we needed to put another one in.”
The Crows have also opted to replace Jake Kelly with tall forward Elliott Himmelberg.
Nicks said a policy of resting players was likely to be implemented with the upcoming jam-packed fixture that will see Adelaide play four games in 15 days and it will almost certainly apply to Taylor Walker.
“I’m having that conversation with ‘Tex’ and looking at the draw, there’ll be a chance we try to work that so he might have a 10-day break at some point,” he said.
FRANKLIN TO TRAVEL WEST TO JOIN SWANS IN HUB
— Ben Horne
The Sydney Swans are intending to take Lance Franklin with them to their Perth hub in a sign there is finally light at the end of the tunnel for the injury-hampered superstar.
Swans coach John Longmire said it was still too early to put a time frame on Franklin’s likely return date when he addressed the media on Tuesday, but the fact the all-time great is likely to travel with the team to Western Australia is a sign that he will still play a role on the field this season.
Franklin has been running and partaking in skill sessions, but is still yet to return to full training with the team after injuring his hamstring during the COVID-19 shutdown.
The club denies he has been battling any other setbacks with his body.
Managing Franklin when he does return won’t be an easy process, particularly if he is to come back during the compressed part of the schedule.
The Swans are due to play three matches in 12 days during the AFL’s condensed block, including a derby against GWS in Perth.
It’s likely they may stay in Western Australia a further week to play Fremantle before heading home.
Longmire has highlighted how keen he is to get experienced names like Franklin back on the field to help mentor through the ever-expanding brigade of youngsters being blooded at the club – with Matthew Ling the latest debutant picked to face Hawthorn on Saturday.
As the club waits for Franklin, the Swans’ other major piece up forward Sam Reid returns against Hawthorn on Saturday for his first match of the season.
The 28-year-old’s imposing presence up forward has been hugely missed, particularly without Franklin in the line-up.
“It’s been a frustrating start to the year for many reasons,” said Reid.
“It’s always frustrating watching, particularly with the youth we’ve got at the moment … it’s hard to replace experience.
“Having a few more experienced heads out there can be helpful. Hopefully this weekend I can bring a bit of leadership and direction among that young forward group.”
Will Hayward will miss at least one week for the Swans with a knee injury, while George Hewett, Colin O’Riordan, rookie Chad Warner and Ryley Stoddart are all part of five changes for the Swans from last week’s clash with Gold Coast.
The turnover is the latest example of Longmire’s extraordinary injury battles.
Lewis Taylor returns for Sydney and James Bell gets his first start of the season.
FULL ROUND 8 TEAMS (All times AEST)
GOLD COAST v WESTERN BULLDOGS
Thursday July 23, 7:40pm at Metricon Stadium
SUNS
B: C.Budarick, S.Collins, J.Lukosius
HB: P.Hanley, C.Ballard, J.Harbrow
C: L.Weller, H.Greenwood, B.Ellis
HF: N.Anderson, S.Day, A.Sexton
F: I.Rankine, B.King, B.Ainsworth
FOLL: J.Witts, D.Swallow, T.Miller
I/C: J.Bowes, W.Powell, N.Holman, D.MacPherson
EMG: B.Fiorini, C. Ellis, J. Corbett, S. Lemmens
BULLDOGS
B: B.Williams, A.Keath, C.Daniel
HB: J.Johannisen, E.Wood, H.Crozier
C: J.Macrae, M.Bontempelli, L.Vandermeer
HF: B.Gowers, Z.Cordy, M.Suckling
F: M.Wallis, J.Bruce, C.Weightman
FOLL: T.English, T.Liberatore, B.Smith
I/C: E.Richards, P.Lipinski, C.Porter, La.Young
EMG: T.McLean, L.Butler, R.Smith, J.Sweet
IN: B.Gowers, C.Porter
OUT: B.Dale (Injured), L.Hunter (Managed)
RICHMOND v GWS
Friday July 24, 7:50pm at Giants Stadium
TIGERS
B: Broad, Grimes, Balta
HB: Short, Vlastuin, Eggmolesse-Smith
C: McIntosh, Bolton, Naish
HF: Aarts, Higgins, Castagna
F: Martin, Lynch, Riewoldt
FOLL: Soldo, Pickett, Lambert
I/C: Rioli, Graham, Baker, Chol
EMG: Ralphsmith, Dow, Markov, Stack
IN: Naish
OUT: Caddy (injured)
GIANTS
B: Shaw, Davis, Corr
HB: Haynes, Keeffe, Perryman
C: Kelly, Coniglio, Whitfield
HF: Daniels, Cameron, Greene
F: Himmelberg, Finlayson, Greene
FOLL: Jacobs, Taranto, de Boer
I/C: Caldwell, Ash, Langdon, Lloyd
EMG: Hately, Buntine, Briggs, Hill
IN: Greene, Jacobs, Lloyd
OUT: Hill, Hately (both omitted), Mumford (injured)
NORTH MELBOURNE v CARLTON
Saturday July 25, 1:05pm at the Gabba
KANGAROOS
B: Pittard, Tarrant, McDonald
HB: Atley, McKay, Hayden
C: Polec, Simpkin, Dumont
HF: Zurhaar, Walker, Scott
F: Mahony, Brown, Taylor
FOLL: Goldstein, Higgins, Anderson
I/C: Davies-Uniacke, Larkey, Macmillan, Hall
EMG: Durdin, Xerri, Murphy, Hosie
IN: Zurhaar, Anderson, Davies-Uniacke, Larkey
OUT: Williams, Wood, Bonar, Ziebell
BLUES
B: Plowman, Jones, Simpson
HB: Docherty, Weitering, Williamson
C: Murphy, Cripps, Newnes
HF: Martin, Casboult, McGovern
F: Betts, McKay, Gibbons
FOLL: Pittonet, Setterfield, Walsh
I/C: Petrevski-Seton, E.Curnow, Kennedy, Cuningham
EMG: Cottrell, Moore, Philp, Honey
No changes
SYDNEY v HAWTHORN
Saturday July 25, 3:35pm at the SCG
SWANS
B: Lloyd, Rampe, Clarke
HB: Fox, Aliir, Mills
C: Bell, Parker, Cunningham
HF: Dawson, McCartin, L.Taylor
F: E.Taylor, Reid, Papley
FOLL: Sinclair, Rowbottom, Florent
I/C: Stephens, Gray, Blakey, Ling
EMG: O’Riordan, Wicks, Warner, Thurlow
IN: Bell, L.Taylor, Reid, Gray, Ling
OUT: Warner, O’Riordan (omitted), Hayward, Hewett, Stoddart (injured)
HAWKS
B: Hardwick, Frawley, Sicily
HB: Day, Frost, Scrimshaw
C: Scully, O’Meara, Smith
HF: Gunston, Brooksby, Wingard
F: Minchington, Lewis, Morrison
FOLL: McEvoy, Worpel, Mitchell
I/C: Burgoyne, Stratton, Shiels, Morris
EMG: Hartley, Glass, Hanrahan, Puopolo
IN: Scrimshaw, Brooksby
OUT: O’Brien, Henderson
PORT ADELAIDE v ST KILDA
Saturday July 25, 7:40pm at the Adelaide Oval
POWER
B: Bonner, McKenzie, Clurey
HB: Hartlett, Jonas, Byrne-Jones
C: Farrell, Wines, Amon
HF: Powell-Pepper, Marshall, Rozee
F: Butters, Dixon, Gray
FOLL: Ladhams, Houston, Boak
I/C: Mayes, Ebert, Duursma, Georgiades
EMG: Rockliff, Westhoff, Garner, Woodcock
IN: Bonner, Ebert, Georgiades
OUT: Burton, Motlop (injured), Westhoff (omitted)
SAINTS
B: Coffield, Wilkie, Carlisle
HB: Hill, Howard, Ross
C: Geary, Clark, Billings
HF: Butler, Gresham, Kent
F: Parker, Membrey, King
FOLL: Ryder, Steele, Jones
I/C: Paton, Sinclair, Hind, Marshall
EMG: McKenzie, Marsh, Lonie, Byrnes
IN: Parker, Sinclair, Hind
OUT: Battle (injured), Byrnes, Lonie (omitted)
ADELAIDE v ESSENDON
Sunday July 26, 1:05pm at the Adelaide Oval
CROWS
B: L.Brown, D.Talia, W.Hamill
HB: F.McAsey, T.Doedee, R.Laird
C: D.Mackay, C.Jones, T.Lynch
HF: K.Hartigan, B.Smith, B.Crouch
F: T.Stengle, T.Walker, S.McAdam
FOLL: R.O’Brien, M.Crouch, P.Seedsman
I/C: L.Murphy, B.Keays, E.Himmelberg, A.McPherson
EMG: Gibbs, Crocker, Kelly, Atkins
IN: Murphy, Gibbs, Atkins, Himmelberg
OUT: McHenry (managed), Kelly (omitted)
BOMBERS
B: M.Redman, A.Francis, M.Hurley
HB: C.McKenna, J.Ridley, A.Saad
C: K.Langford, Z.Merrett, B.Ham
HF: A.McDonald-Tipungwuti, D.Zaharakis, W.Snelling
F: J.Laverde, J.Townsend, D.Smith
FOLL: T.Bellchambers, D.Parish, A.McGrath
I/C: S.McKernan,, M.Hibberd, N.Cahill, M.Gleeson
EMG: Stewart, Cutler, Clarke, Guelfi
IN: Francis, Bellchambers, Gleeson
OUT: Hooker (injured), Phillips (omitted), Fantasia (injured)
WEST COAST v COLLINGWOOD
Sunday July 26, 3:35pm at Optus Stadium
EAGLES
B: B.Sheppard, T.Barrass, S.Hurn
HB: L.Duggan, J.McGovern, T.Cole
C: J.Redden, E.Yeo, A.Gaff
HF: J.Cripps, J.Darling, D.Sheed
F: J.Waterman, J.Kennedy, L.Ryan
FOLL: N.Naitanui, T.Kelly, L.Shuey
I/C: O.Allen, J.Nelson, B.Ainsworth, J.Cameron
EMG: Williams, Rotham, Edwards, Reid
IN: Shuey
OUT: Ah Chee (injured)
MAGPIES
B: J.Crisp, J.Roughead, I.Quaynor
HB: B.Maynard, D.Moore, J.Noble
C: T.Phillips, S.Pendlebury, C.Mayne
HF: J.Stephenson, B.Mihocek, C.Brown
F: J.Daicos, W.Hoskin-Elliott, J.Elliott
FOLL: B.Grundy, T.Adams, A.Treloar
I/C: J.Thomas, R.Wills, M.Scharenberg, D.Cameron
EMG: Bosenavulagi, Reid, Sier, Madgen
IN: Thomas, Scharenberg, Cameron
OUT: Varcoe, De Goey (both injured), A.Bosenavulagi (omitted)
MELBOURNE v BRISBANE LIONS
Sunday July 26, 6:10pm at Metricon Stadium
DEMONS
B: M.Hibberd, S.May, J.Lockhart
HB: C.Salem, J.Lever, O.McDonald
C: E.Langdon, C.Oliver, B.Fritsch
HF: J.Melksham, S.Weideman, J.Harmes
F: K.Pickett, M.Hannan, H.Bennell
FOLL: M.Gawn, C.Petracca, J.Viney
I/C: N.Jones, L.Jackson, A.Brayshaw, N.Jetta
EMG: Tomlinson, Neal-Bullen, T.McDonald, J.Smith
IN: Jones
OUT: Vandenberg (injured)
LIONS
B: R.Lester, H.Andrews, D.Gardiner
HB: D.Rich, G.Birchall, B.Starcevich
C: M.Robinson, D.Zorko, H.McCluggage
HF: J.Berry, E.Hipwood, C.Rayner
F: Z.Bailey, D.McStay, C.Cameron
FOLL: O.McInerney, J.Lyons, L.Neale
I/C: C.Ah Chee, L.McCarty, T.Berry, A.Smith
EMG: K.Coleman, A.Witherden, R.Mathieson, C.Ballenden
IN: Smith
OUT: Martin (injured)
FREMANTLE v GEELONG
Monday July 27, 8.10pm at Optus Stadium
DOCKERS
B: J.Aish, B.Cox, T.Duman
HB: E.Hughes, L.Ryan, N.Wilson
C: B.Bewley, D.Tucker, B.Acres
HF: A.Cerra, M.Taberner, M.Frederick
F: L.Schultz, R.Lobb, M.Walters
FOLL: S.Darcy, D.Mundy, A.Brayshaw
I/C: M.Crowden, T.Colyer, C.Serong, B.Banfield, B.Matera, C.Blakely, T.Watson, R.Conca
IN: Crowden, Blakely, Matera, Watson, Conca
OUT: S.Hill (injured)
CATS
B: M.O’Connor, M.Blicavs, J.Kolodjashnij
HB: J.Henry, H.Taylor, T.Stewart
C: S.Menegola, P.Dangerfield, Z.Tuohy
HF: M.Duncan, T.Hawkins, G.Miers
F: S.Simpson, E.Ratugolea, G.Rohan
FOLL: D.Fort, C.Guthrie, B.Parfitt
I/C: J.Bews, J.Steven, C.Constable, L.Fogarty, J.Parsons, N.Kreuger, B.Jarvis, B.Close
IN: Stewart, Duncan, Constable, Fogarty, Kreuger, Parsons, Jarvis, Close
OUT: Dahlhaus, Selwood, Clark (all injured), Ablett (personal reasons)