The squad is a fine balance of experience and youth that will give fans the opportunity to get a glimpse of the future and see a number of the Club’s new acquisitions in what will be St Kilda’s first competitive hit out of 2009. It’s also the first time the Club will wear its new clash strip.
Colm Begley is anticipated to play his first game in red, white and black against his old Club while former Bulldog Farren Ray and former Hawk Zac Dawson will also be hoping to get the nod for the match at Gold Coast Stadium.
Nick Heyne is the only player from the National Draft class of 2008 that has been named and he’s joined by team mates Eljay Connors, Luke Miles and Jack Steven as well as pre-season draft acquisition Tom Simpkin.
Captain Nick Riewoldt will miss the clash after recently undergoing arthroscopic surgery and Vice-Captain Lenny Hayes is another omission with soreness that kept him out of last week’s intra-club match at Linen House Oval.
The good news for St Kilda fans is that Matt Maguire is set to line up in his first competitive match since injuring his foot in Round 7 last season. The popular defender has been missed sorely by the Saints and will be hoping to get through the match unscathed and use it to build for a successful 2009.
Luke Ball has also been named for his first game since injuring his hamstring against Port Adelaide in Round 18 which ruled him out of St Kilda’s finals campaign.
St Kilda Football Manager Greg Hutchison said, “We welcome a number of new faces to the side for this weekend’s NAB Cup match against the Lions and also give some guys with limited pre-season experience the chance to show what they’ve got.
“We’ll leave the selection of our 22 until Saturday, but our fans will definitely have the chance to see a number of our new players in St Kilda colours for the first time. We encourage all football fans based on the Gold Coast to come out in force this Saturday night; not only to support the Saints, but to get behind the AFL’s Victorian bushfire appeal initiative where half of the gate takings will be donated to the fund.”
Round 1 of the NAB Cup between St Kilda and Brisbane will be broadcast to Melbourne viewers on Channel 10 from 8:00pm and Nick Riewoldt will be in the commentary box during the second quarter.
NAB Cup Round 1 vs Brisbane - St Kilda squad of 29
14 BALL Luke
17 BEGLEY Colm
27 BLAKE Jason
16 CLARKE Raphael
37 CONNORS Eljay
26 DAL SANTO Nick
43 DAWSON Zac
40 EDDY Robert
6 FISHER Leigh
25 FISHER Sam
15 GARDINER Michael
42 GEARY Jarryn
19 GILBERT Sam
18 GODDARD Brendon
33 GWILT James
21 HEYNE Nick
30 HOWARD Brad
38 JONES Clint
2 KING Steven
23 KOSCHITZKE Justin
31 MAGUIRE Matt
5 McEVOY Ben
32 McQUALTER Andrew
45 MILES Luke
44 MILNE Stephen
11 MONTAGNA Leigh
22 RAY Farren
47 SIMPKIN Tom
34 STEVEN Jack
