After the news Ben Ainsworth will be on the sidelines for 4-6 weeks, SUNS Senior Coach Stuart Dew has given his best indicator yet of who is next in line to replace the midfielder and small forward.
Ainsworth injured his medial ligament in his knee in the tight Round 1 loss to St Kilda, putting a shortage on the club’s small forward stocks after the injuries to Sean Lemmens and Izak Rankine in the pre-season.
But Dew said it was a SUN returning from injury most likely to take up the mantle in the forward line, Nick Holman.
“There was a bit of a squeeze there for a while obviously with Sean and Izak going down, it hasn’t helped,” Dew told the media on Tuesday afternoon.
“But Nick Holman played a full game and I thought he played that role really well last week so he’ll probably come into the mix as that pressure forward who can go on ball.
“(It’s) another opportunity for him to come in and cement his place after having a little bit of a layoff.”
Dew was forced to restructure his midfield unit on the run last week, with Ainsworth originally scheduled to play a high volume of minutes on-ball.
But after he and co-captain David Swallow copped heavy knocks to the knees, Dew swung the pair into the forward line for some relief on their battered bodies.
As a result, players like Darcy Macpherson got some valuable experience in the midfield.
“Looking at our midfield brigade, (Brayden) Fiorini got some good minutes through there, Jack Bowes and even Darcy Macpherson (played there),” Dew said.
“But we know Darcy can play that, he’s played that at NEAFL level and he really enjoyed that exposure.
“I thought he was quite effective around the ball and we love the way Darcy goes about it, he’s got a good attitude and keeps it pretty simple, plays to his strengths.”
Macpherson finished with a career-high 20 disposals and nine tackles, while Bowes (22 disposals), Fiorini (30 disposals) and Wil Powell (23 disposals) also chipped in.
It gives Dew and the selection committee plenty to ponder for how the midfield unit will look in Round 2 against Fremantle, with Swallow battling the clock to prove his fitness for the first home game of the year.
After the tight finish at Marvel Stadium, the coach said morale is high and the players are eager to get out on the home deck and replicate the same level of intensity in front of a home crowd.
“Our first home game here at Metricon, a lot of guys haven’t played here and they’re really looking forward to it so there’s some excitement around that,” Dew said.
“We would have loved to get over the line (last week) and come home with four points but we’ve certainly got a lot of belief and a lot of things to learn too.
“We’re looking forward to Sunday, it should be a great day and we think we’re just continuing our journey.
“We’re looking to compete for four quarters and thought we did that on the weekend.”
