The Standard | CRAFTY Merrivale onballer Gareth Crawford will miss tomorrow’s Warrnambool and District league match of the round against Allansford.
Crawford has ruled himself unavailable for the Merrivale Recreation Reserve showdown due to a wedding, with fringe player James Cook his replacement.
They were the only changes to the side which defeated Kolora-Noorat last weekend.
Opponent Allansford made two changes, omitting Matt Lenehan and also losing Rory Neeson to a wedding.
Ben Lenehan returns to provide ruck support for James Keane, while Joel Cornelissen will make his season debut following a hamstring injury.
The Cats have named Sam Doukas, despite the full-back injuring a calf on Tuesday night. Selectors will reserve their verdict until game day.
“We’ll wait and see how he pulls up. We’ll give him that time,” coach Josh Parkinson said.
Elsewhere, Nirranda faces a potentially season-defining test against South Rovers at Walter Oval without two key cogs.
Concussion from a friendly fire incident last weekend has ruled out defender Nick Walsh, while will Rick Spokes has an ankle injury. Marcus Roberts and Dylan Lees also miss. Ryan Mortimer, Dylan Willsher, Lachlan O’Brien and Matthew Lloyd are the inclusions.
South Rovers welcomed back coach Nathan Isles but lost Adam Payne due to neck soreness and Josh Brown to a groin setback.
Andre Barr, who was among a group of players who crossed from Warrnambool in the summer, is the other inclusion.
“He’s one that came across with us from Warrnambool, never expected to play senior footy and to be honest I didn’t think that’d be the case either,” Isles said.
“But he’s much fitter than he was playing reserves footy at Warrnambool. He’s keen, he’s interested and he’s been training.
“It’s reward for effort. He’s been the best two or three weeks in a row in the twos and we’ve got a couple of injuries.”
Dennington omitted Peter Doukas and John Vincent, while Tim Chatfield is unavailable when it hosts Timboon Demons at Dennington Recreation Reserve.
Interleague trio Luke Pearson, Luke Moutray and Leigh Evans return to the side.
Panmure will be without utility Tom White and backman Ben Meade when it takes on Russells Creek at Panmure Recreation Reserve, among three changes.
Russells Creek made five adjustments. Veteran forward Damian Osborne will play his first game for the season, while teen Liam Antonio will debut.
But the buoyancy surrounding their inclusions was countered by unavailability ruling out Shaun McDougall and Lucas Hussey-Moran.
East Warrnambool emerged worse for wear from its defeat to Timboon Demons, losing defender Simon Tindall with a hairline fracture in an arm.
“He’ll miss three to four,” Bombers coach Paul Butters said. “It’s not in plaster.”
Ash Sumner (unavailable) and Jeff Vizon (bruised ribs) are the other omissions for the clash against Kolora-Noorat at Reid Oval.
Cale Jarvis, Trent Clark, Hayden Laird and first-gamer Kyle Geebung are among the additions.
Kolora-Noorat made three changes, featuring the inclusion of Tom Clissold for his first game of the season.
And Old Collegians meets Deakin University without in-form forward Aaron Williams, who is unavailable, and Jimmy Ryan, who has a corked thigh.
Deakin University made three changes to its line-up, adding Will Ruddle, Eric English and Jakob Stennett.
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