Any folks wanting to get to the match a little early can see Sam Walsh & others on display:
GEELONG FALCONS v. EASTERN RANGES
Round 4 – Saturday, April 21, 11.15am
Avalon Airport Oval, Werribee
In a game where both sides are still looking for their first win, last year’s reigning premiers and the team with the most players drafted in 2017, find themselves in a vastly different situation six months on. Geelong will welcome back
Sam Walsh who is a crucial cog in the Falcons midfield, especially against an Eastern Ranges outfit which will be without the likes of
Xavier Fry and
Cody Hirst who both rotate through there.
Geelong will miss
Charlie Sprague who has been arguably the most consistent Falcons player who has played all three games, as Sprague heads back to play school football, as will
Cooper Stephens and a host of others among seven changes for Geelong. Eastern have also made six changes, with Hirst’s a forced one through injury. One area in which Eastern can try and take control is in the midfield with a strong inside brigade. With no
Ed McHenry, the Ranges have four of the top five clearance players in the game, with
Joel Burleigh,
Jonte Duffy,
Adrian Kalcovski and
Lachlan Stapleton all providing good extraction from the stoppages.
Oscar Brownless,
Baxter Mensch,
Brayden Ham and of course Walsh will look to go head-to-head with the Eastern onballers in what could decide the match.
The big question for these teams is scoring, with the Falcons missing Sprague (who would have the
highest scoreboard impact in this match-up) and relying on
Blake Schlensog who has had nine score involvements, three more than any other player on the field this season. Based on the season so far, both teams will look to share the load in terms of scoring, with
Billy McCormack and
Thomas Lockman named as the key position posts for Eastern, while
Finlay Parish comes in for his first game and will line-up at centre-half forward in between Ham and Walsh. Throwing
Connor Idun forward continues to offer a different look for the Falcons, and with a marked improvement in round three compared to the prior two rounds, the Falcons will be confident going into this one.