the intra club match should tell us a fair bit more.
we can speculate on which rookies will get a gig however if they cant get a kick in the intra club, i doubt they'd get a game next week.
all that aside I'll have a crack at a team, blindly and unaware of injuries or player form, just b/c its late in the day and i cbf doing otherwise:
from memory, there are 6 on the bench in wizard cup arent there?
B: Jacobs Roughead Dawson
CHB: Brown Croad Smith
C: Hodge Everitt Clarke
CHF: Boyle Barker Franklin
FF: Dixon Williams Miller
Foll: Lewis Bateman Vanders
Interchange:
Young, Taylor, Brennan, Ladson, Guerra, Murphy,
Rest: Thurgood, Mitchell, Crawford, Osborne, Sewell, Campbell
The way i fugure it, AC needs to quickly blood Dawson and Boyle. We are in desperate need of KPPs still. Similarly Murphy as a utility will be very handy early on. Guerra needs to get a game to see how he gels into the side. We need to persist with the development of Young, Tails and Brennan althouth Brennan may get droped for Birchall.
Thurgoods had a shoulder job so rest him. Mitch is still in recovery mode. Preserve him till fitness is 110%. Crawf doesnt need practise matches. Let him come on from rd 1 onwards, similar to the Hird resting strategy. Obsorne leave out because we've seen what he's capable of. Leaving him in stops up from giving one of Murphy / Dawson / Boyle a go. All 3 will be more important to the side longer term than Ossie. Its his experience that keeps him in the top 18 at present but not for ever. Sewell is a tagger with limited improvement in him. AC will keep him honest and by the sidelines for a rd 1 tagging role. As NAB cup is a bit of an experiment, AC will opt to go without at use Clarke instead as a tagger. Campbell will need to play some matches and prove his form till he gets a senior game. Young will get a gig definitely. With a pre-season under his belt, we will be looking for some improvement in him.
The rest is pretty straight forward however I included Miller in that squad even though his form doesn't always warrant it. Remember his 4 goals against Richmond last time they met. AC desperately needs him to find consistency and bring us some pace, inside 50s and crumbing in the forward line.