Round 3: The Team

Collingwood v St Kilda Friday April 17, 7.50pm MCG 7mate / Fox Footy 7.30pm Weather: Min 10 Max 18 Chance of rain 70%: 5-10mm Wind: E 12kph Betting: Collingwood $1.37 St Kilda $3.10

B: Alan Toovey, Nathan Brown, Marley Williams
HB: Tom Langdon, Jack Frost, Jackson Ramsay
C: Travis Varcoe, Dane Swan, Jack Crisp
HF: Jamie Elliott, Jesse White, Tim Broomhead
F: Tyson Goldsack, Travis Cloke, Jarryd Blair
Foll: Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams, Scott Pendlebury
Int: Sam Dwyer, Paul Seedsman, Adam Oxley, Corey Gault
Emg: Darcy Moore, Patrick Karnezis, Jordan De Goey

IN: Sam Dwyer, Corey Gault
OUT: Ben Sinclair (hamstring), Alex Fasolo (omitted)

Fast Fact
Just seven of the 23 Magpies who went head-to-head with St Kilda in the two Grand Finals of 2010 have been selected in Friday night’s team.
For the record, the seven survivors are Jarryd Blair, Nathan Brown, Travis Cloke, Tyson Goldsack, Scott Pendlebury, Dane Swan and Alan Toovey.

Collingwood News Collingwood has named both Scott Pendlebury and Taylor Adams in its 22-man line up to face St Kilda at the MCG on Friday night. The midfield pair had been under an injury cloud in the lead up to the match but have been named as rover and ruck-rover respectively. “It’s been an interesting week,” Pendlebury told CollingwoodTV’s Team Sheet. “It’s all been about recovery and just trying to do everything I can to try and get up for the game.” The pair has amassed 111 disposals per game in the first two rounds of the season and will again be called upon to play key roles against Alan Richardson’s Saints. At selection, the Magpies have called on two forwards as it prepares to boost its potency in attack this weekend. The run and cunning of Sam Dwyer and long reach of Corey Gault will be key additions to a team that fell 27-points short against Adelaide last Saturday. They replace the injured Ben Sinclair (hamstring) and Alex Fasolo, who has been omitted. Dwyer and Gault were among the best afield in last Saturday’s VFL win over North Ballarat and are deserving of their first AFL appearances of 2015. It’s a just reward for Gault who was named as an emergency for each of Collingwood’s first two games of the season. “It’s been really promising, just knowing that I’ve been in the mix every week,” Gault told CollingwoodTV. “My debut was against Hawthorn on a Friday night so I know what Friday night footy is like. “I have just been really hungry to get another taste of AFL footy so that is what really drove me throughout the pre-season and the weeks leading up to now.” That match against Hawthorn is the only senior experience to Gault’s name, though he made the best of it, kicking two goals in the final round of the 2014 season. He was a consistent performer across the club’s three NAB Challenge matches, averaging a goal per game up forward while assisting Brodie Grundy in the ruck when required. Now in his fourth year on the list, Gault, who has 38 games of VFL football under his belt, is well placed to take the next step at the highest level. Dwyer, meanwhile, has consistently put his hand up for higher honours in the VFL in recent weeks. He was among Collingwood’s best in practice matches against Richmond, the Casey Scorpions and North Ballarat after managing two NAB Challenge games earlier in the pre-season. “All I can do is just keep trying to contribute as best I can at VFL level and get out there on the training track and train hard,” Dwyer told CollingwoodTV after the loss to the Scorpions. “If things go my way then I think I’m ready to go.” Dwyer, who played nine of the last 11 games at senior level last year, established himself as a key member of Nathan Buckley’s outfit as a mature age debutant in 2013 when he ranked first for goal assists with 22 from 21 games. The team’s emergencies feature two of its most precocious youngsters Jordan De Goey (one senior game) and Darcy Moore (yet to debut), while former Lion Patrick Karnezis continues to press his claims for a senior berth.