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A faulty foot and a jagged jaw: AFL Finals week 2 team selection

Roar Guru
11th September, 2014
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North Melbourne's Brent Harvey is around 400 years old but seems to be doing fine. (Photo: Greg Ford)
Roar Guru
11th September, 2014
0

A star comes in for North Melbourne while another one is out for Geelong.

After serving a three match suspension which was handed to him by the tribunal, Brent Harvey makes his first 2014 AFL Finals appearance.

Harvey was sanctioned for dangerously body slamming Western Bulldog Liam Picken then forcing his forearm into Picken’s throat in Round 21.

VIEW THE FULL AFL SEMI-FINAL TEAMS HERE

Half-backman Ben Jacobs makes way for the veteran.

Geelong has made two changes. Experience comes out for youth.

Mitch Brown at the age of 25 has only played 14 senior games, he will be looking to have an impact in a final to try and cement his spot.

He and Josh Walker have been battling for the spot of second tall for the majority of the season, especially since Shane Kersten went down injured.

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Former Kangaroo ruckman Hamish McIntosh has come out of Chris Scott’s side. Throughout the week McIntosh was criticised by the media for some of his efforts in last Friday’s loss against Hawthorn. However, McIntosh has not been dropped but has been omitted due to knee soreness.

McIntosh went under the knife on Tuesday but is expected to be fit to play next week if the Cats can win tonight.

Steve Johnson is Geelong’s other exclusion. It was clear Johnson was not a hundred percent fit in last week’s lost to Hawthorn as he has struggled to overcome a foot problem.

Twenty year old Lincoln McCarthy is the Cats second inclusion. McCarthy has only played three games this season and will obviously be trying to make the most of his opportunity.

We’ve seen in the past young players for the Cats stand up in big games; could McCarthy kick his first goal at AFL level to change the momentum of a final?

There is only one change for the Saturday night match between Port Adelaide and Fremantle at Patersons Stadium.

The one change is a massive blow to Fremantle’s chances of reaching a Preliminary final. Hayden Ballatyne has come out of the side due to a jaw injury which sees Nick Suban come into Ross Lyon’s team.

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The last three times Fremantle has faced the Power Ballatyne has kicked three goals on two of those occasions. The one time he didn’t kick three goals was in Round 8 this year where he actually did not kick a goal and the Power won by 18 points.

It is a glass half full for Fremantle fans though as newly crowned AFLPA MVP Nathan Fyfe is playing against the Power this weekend after missing when the teams met in Round 23 two weeks ago.

Port Adelaide made no changes to the side that demoralised Richmond last Sunday. Some may have expected Jarman Impey to come in to play a role on Michael Walters.

Hinkley may think Jasper Pittard has the pace to follow Walters and even make him accountable when the Power manages to release a counterattack.

A relief for Port Adelaide fans is that Matt White has been selected after fracturing his jaw against the Tigers. White plays a vital role for the Power as he bursts away from opponents to break the lines.

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