North Melbourne coach Brad Scott flags Kayne Turner as possible replacement for Jed Anderson
FEARLESS forward Kayne Turner looks set to replace injured North Melbourne speedster Jed Anderson for Saturday’s tricky Round 2 assignment in Brisbane.
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FEARLESS forward Kayne Turner looks set to replace injured North Melbourne speedster Jed Anderson for Saturday’s tricky Round 2 assignment in Brisbane.
Anderson has been ruled out for 8-10 weeks with torn hamstring sustained early in his Kangaroos debut.
Kangaroos coach Brad Scott said Turner was unlucky to miss out on selection for the season-opener.
“Kayne Turner will be available this week so there’s a real like for like replacement there,” Scott said.
“We’ve still got really good availability even though Jed’s out.”
The clash pits North Melbourne against traded midfielder Ryan Bastinac for the first time.
Scott agreed with Bastinac’s assertion that he was pushed out of his preferred role after 121 games at Arden St.
“I think Ryan made it pretty clear he was pushed out of the role he plays best, not pushed out of North Melbourne,” Scott said.
“He’s right, he sees himself playing his best footy as an inside midfielder and he really struggled for game time in that position for us.
“He saw greater opportunity and we saw an opportunity to get a first-round draft pick back [that] we gave up for Jed Anderson. Like all trades you hope they’re win-win.”
Scott said he was pleased with the way the Roos responded to Adelaide’s challenge last week.
“I think there’s been an evolution there. We were certainly under pressure, Adelaide was playing some good footy,” he said.
“When that’s happening I think a young and inexperienced group can adopt a mindset that things just aren’t working for us today.
“But our guys are really confident that their best is good enough and for them it’s a matter of persevering and persisting when things aren’t working and in the end we got our just rewards.”
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