Gold Coast SUNS key forward Charlie Dixon will return from an ankle injury against Port Adelaide at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night, along with defender Clay Cameron.
Mature-aged rookie Adam Saad is out for the remainder of the year with the club electing to draw his debut season to a close after a persistent groin injury had got to the point where he is struggling to run out games. Josh Hall is the other change with the athletic utility omitted from Rodney Eade’s side.
Dixon returns after missing last Saturday night’s narrow two-point win over Essendon. The spearhead has only managed 14 appearances this year due to ongoing ankle issues that have interrupted his year and prevented him from exploiting his early season form that saw him emerge as one of the premier power forwards in the game.
The 25-year-old has kicked 36.15 this year including big hauls against Brisbane in round five (six goals) and North Melbourne in round 14 (seven goals – club record). Alongside Tom Lynch, the pair has formed one of the best attacking partnerships in the league, despite a poor season for the club and an absence of midfield class.
Eade says the return of Dixon assists the SUNS' goal kicking prowess and could stretch Port Adelaide’s defensive stocks given the Power are missing permanent fixtures Alipate Carlile and Jackson Trengove.
“It’s obviously a strength, our height in the forward line. But it depends on the weather, apparently there’s going to be some rain. That could change the dynamics a fair bit. But Charlie back gives us a bit of an added bonus as a goal kicking target,” Eade told SUNS TV on Thursday afternoon.
Port Adelaide’s decision to go with just Paddy Ryder in the last fortnight has paid dividends with their star import producing back-to-back stellar efforts. For the duration of the year, Ken Hinkley has tried juggling Ryder and Matthew Lobbe in the ruck, but the results haven’t been as damaging as they envisaged when they poached Ryder from Essendon during last October’s trade period.
Ruckman Zac Smith will have his hands full against Ryder who was one of the best players on the ground in the Power’s upset win over reigning premiers Hawthorn last Friday night, with Eade instructing Smith to play to his strengths, rather than focusing on his opponent too much.
“He’ll need to be more aggressive at the centre bounce and be able to jump – he’s got a really good spring on him Zac as well as having that height advantage,” Eade said.
“I think he’s just got to be able to use his assets and be positive about that. Ryder’s got a good leap as well, but Zac is taller. Zac was reasonable last week, it was his first game back for awhile, so hopefully he’ll be better for the run.”
Round 22 AFL Premiership Team
B: C. Cameron, R. Thompson, H. Schade
HB: N. Malceski, S. May, K. Kolodjashnij
C: L. Russell, M. Rischitelli, M. Shaw
HF: H. Bennell, T. Lynch, B. Matera
F: C. Dixon, S. Day, J. Garlett
R: Z. Smith, J. Lonergan, T. Miller
Interchange: J. Martin, D. Stanley, A. Hall, S. Lemmens
Emergencies: J. Glenn, G. Broughton, J. Hall
IN: C. Dixon, C. Cameron
OUT: A. Saad (groin), J. Hall (omitted)
