Dustin time: 2010 Round 1 projections v3 (1/4)

Richmond is going to blood multiple new faces like Dustin Martin in round 1, as will many AFL clubs.

I will try to rip through these this afternoon with not many comments, four at a time as usual.

Richmond
FB: Chris Newman, Kelvin Moore, Will Thursfield
HB: Shane Edwards, Luke McGuane, Daniel Connors
C: Richard Tambling, Trent Cotchin, Daniel Jackson
HF: Robin Nahas, Jack Riewoldt, Dustin Martin
FF: Ben Nason, Graham Polak, Mitch Morton
Fol: Troy Simmonds, Brett Deledio, Shane Tuck
Int: Tyrone Vickery, Troy Taylor, Alex Rance, Mitch Farmer
In: Nason, Taylor, Rance
Out: Ben Cousins, Dean Polo, Matt White
Iffy: Thursfield, Farmer, Tuck, Polo
Waiting: Nathan Foley, Angus Graham, Tom Hislop
Injured: David Astbury, Benjamin Griffiths, Cousins

Coach Damien Hardwick has told the press he will play three debutantes, so for me it’s Martin, Nason and Taylor. Cases could be made for Relton Roberts and Jeromey Webberley but they will probably have to wait. Rance comes in to mark Waite.

Carlton
FB: Bret Thornton, Michael Jamison, Aaron Joseph
HB: Jordan Russell, Paul Bower, Heath Scotland
C: Kade Simpson, Brock McLean, Andrew Carrazzo
HF: Andrew Walker, Jarrad Waite, Chris Yarran
FF: Setanta O’hAilpin, Lachie Henderson, Eddie Betts
Fol: Matthew Kreuzer, Bryce Gibbs, Richard Hadley
Int: Robert Warnock, Marc Murphy, Ryan Houlihan, Mitch Robinson
In:
Out:
Iffy: Houlihan, Hadley, Joseph, Warnock
Waiting: Shaun Hampson, Rohan Kerr, Shaun Grigg, Kane Lucas
Injured: Brad Fisher
Suspended: Chris Judd

If the Blues can add Judd back into this 22 and keep it together for the season, they’re going to do alright.

Geelong
FB: Darren Milburn, Matthew Scarlett, Andrew Mackie
HB: Corey Enright, Harry Taylor, Josh Hunt
C: James Kelly, Jimmy Bartel, Cameron Ling
HF: Shannon Byrnes, Cameron Mooney, Steve Johnson
FF: Paul Chapman, Tom Hawkins, James Podsiadly
Fol: Brad Ottens, Joel Selwood, Gary Ablett jnr
Int: Mark Blake, Mitchell Duncan, David Wojcinski, Tom Lonergan
In: Duncan
Out: Travis Varcoe
Iffy: Lonergan, Duncan, Wocjinski, Podsiadly
Waiting: Nathan Djerrkura, Steven Motlop, Tom Gillies, Jeremy Laidler
Injured: Mitch W. Brown, Max Rooke, Joel Corey, Ryan Gamble, Marcus Drum, Simon Hogan, T. Varcoe
Suspended: Mathew Stokes (club)

Gamble played in the VFL last weekend but reaggravated his ankle problem, which cements Podsiadly’s spot in the 22 for the moment, notwithstanding rumours of the return of Brown off the LTI list as early as round 3. Duncan, meanwhile, is looking better and better with each successive bit of injury news.

Essendon
FB: Henry Slattery, Tayte Pears, Dustin Fletcher
HB: Andrew Welsh, Cale Hooker, Courtenay Dempsey
C: Ricky Dyson, Brent Stanton, Brent Prismall
HF: Alwyn Davey, Scott Gumbleton, Kyle Reimers
FF: Mark Williams, David Hille, Angus Monfries
Fol: Patrick Ryder, Jobe Watson, Jason Winderlich
Int: Jason Laycock, Heath Hocking, Ben Howlett, Kyle Hardingham
In: Howlett, Hardingham
Out: Bachar Houli, Sam Lonergan
Iffy: Dyson, Hocking, Howlett, Hardingham
Waiting: David Zaharakis, Jay Neagle, Jarrod Atkinson, Darcy Daniher
Injured: Leroy Jetta, David Myers
Suspended: Nathan Lovett-Murray, Mark McVeigh, Michael Hurley (club)

I had a long think about dropping Dyson – Lord knows, Essendon fans think about it all the time – but I think he’ll survive the cut ahead of Zaharakis, even though he does resemble a potato at times. I have always liked the look of Houli on-field but it seems that he’s not the coaches’ favourite boy off-field due to his work ethic, whereas Howlett is getting rave reviews from training. Lonergan missed the last NAB game with a niggling something-or-other, so I’ve taken the opportunity to insert Hardingham, though admittedly this is more about hopefulness and boosting the numbers of Round 1 debuts in my projections.