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Greater Western Sydney will field as many AFL debutants as any club in the past 115 years, with Israel Folau one of 17 newcomers picked to play Sydney on Saturday night.
The only five players with previous AFL experience in the 22 the Giants named for their inaugural match are Phil Davis, Callan Ward, Chad Cornes, James McDonald and Rhys Palmer.
Other experienced players Dean Brogan, Luke Power, Setanta O’hAilpin and Tom Scully were all unavailable because of injury, while former Western Bulldog Sam Reid was named an emergency.
The debutant tally equals that fielded by Adelaide when they entered the AFL in 1991, trailing only the eight VFL foundation teams in 1897 for the most debutants in AFL/VFL history.
“You never forget your first game and I’m sure it will be the same for all our young players when they run out on ANZ Stadium on Saturday night,” coach Kevin Sheedy said.
“It will be a night for the players and their families and the people of Sydney to remember.”
The Swans also named a debutant, 18-year-old Harry Cunningham, who in an interesting quirk, spent last year as a Giants top-up player, but was not kept on as part of their inaugural AFL list.
Sydney left out Ryan O’Keefe (knee), Rhyce Shaw (back) and Matt Spangher (hamstring), but Gary Rohan (ankle) and Jude Bolton (calf) were both named despite injury concerns.
The GWS line-up for this weekend’s only AFL game included 14 teenagers.
Even with 33-year-old McDonald and 32-year-old Cornes, the average age of their selected side was still less than 21.
Of the eight players the Giants took in the top 10 in November’s national draft, only four were named, with No.1 pick Jonathan Patton (knee) unavailable.
The Swans did not name any of the three players they picked up in off-season trades.
Ex-Adelaide recruit Tony Armstrong (knee/quad) could not be considered, but former Richmond forward Mitch Morton was named an emergency and Irish e
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