Eagles ready for All Stars pace blitz

They’re drastically lacking height, but the Indigenous All Stars will be aiming to make West Coast eat their dust at ground level when the two teams lock horns in Perth on Friday night.

Fremantle ruckman Jonathon Griffin and 187cm defender Curtly Hampton are among the few players in the Indigenous side boasting decent height.

Adam Goodes would have also been handy, but the 191cm veteran is unlikely to play in the fixture despite joining the squad’s training camp this week.

In contrast, West Coast boast a glut of big-man options, with Nic Naitanui, Scott Lycett, Josh Kennedy, Mitch Brown, Jeremy McGovern, and Will Schofield just some of the tall options at their disposal.

But what the Indigenous All Stars lack in height, they make up for in speed and skill.

Cyril Rioli, Stephen and Bradley Hill, Chris Yarran, Brandon Matera, Shaun Burgoyne, Jake Neade, Lewis Jetta, and Travis Varcoe are among the 59 Indigenous stars who have assembled in Perth this week in the lead-up to Friday’s game.

Coach Andy Lovell admits his team won’t have a typical structure on game day, but he is blessed for pace stocks.

“Structurally we’re probably going to be pretty short. but we’ve still got a couple of boys we can play as rucks and key forwards and defenders,” Lovell said.

“At this point Jonathon Griffin can play ruck.

“Curtly Hampton might have to play above his height a little bit to give us a chop-out as a key defender.

“It’s fair to say we’ll probably go a small forward line.”

Lovell will be embracing individual flair this week, and hopes the move will pay off against the Eagles.

“You tend not to be able to play as instinctively as you would like as an individual player in an AFL team, so that’s something we won’t stifle,” he said.

“We’ll encourage it.

“The boys are here to win.

“They’re competitive beasts and they want to win. We hope to give West Coast a good run for their money.”

The Eagles are set to unleash an inexperienced squad, with Scott Selwood (ankle), Jack Darling (foot), and Brownlow Medallist Matt Priddis among the players to miss.

Eagles coach Adam Simpson said he would also embrace the free spirit nature of the game.

“It won’t be a tactical battle,” Simpson said.

“We’ll probably just let our players play (on instinct) as well, and flush out some rustiness.”

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