NAB Cup Match Preview by William from the West

IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY by William from the West

When the young Demons run out onto Subiaco Oval to play in their opening NAB Cup match against Fremantle late on Sunday afternoon it will be in the heat of the day. The Weather Bureau is predicting warm, partly cloudy conditions with a maximum of 32 degrees with which to greet the teams but if they're young and fit and have done the hard yards over the summer off season this should not worry either side.

Over here in Perth, the Dockers remain the poorer relation to the West Coast Eagles who relished beating Essendon in the first game of the opening round of the NAB Cup last weekend. This week's offering, which co-incidentally closes the round, between the Dockers and the dual wooden spooners in Melbourne isn't attracting anything near the attention that Nick Naitanui's break out game gathered. After all, the competing sides are both widely expected to finish in this year's bottom four along with Richmond and North.

Still, the interest is there for this Demon fan from out west who has eagerly awaited the team's rare appearance on this side of the Nullarbor. I get to see them once or twice a year and there's no way that I would miss the opportunity to watch them take on the Purple Haze.

Despite all of Dean Bailey's efforts to keep a lid on things, the main interest will naturally centre on Melbourne's first and second draft picks in Tom Scully and Jack Trengove. I notice that this twosome is being marketed together as if they were co-joined at the hip and they're that close to each other that I've heard references to a "Jack Scullgove" and "Tom Trengully". Anyway, I'm told that even at this early stage of their development it's like having a couple of extra men on the ground when they play!

I'm also looking forward to seeing emerging future stars such as former Sandgroper Jamie Bennell, James Frawley, Jack Grimes and rookie ruckman Jake Spencer who is said to be coming on in leaps and bounds. The team might not be the strongest that the Dees can put on the park but it won't be lacking in youthful enthusiasm.

The same could be said of the home team which is also injecting a lot of new blood into the system. For the Dockers, local young gun draftee Anthony Morabito will make his first appearance for the club, as will Victorian rookies Alex Silvagni and Michael Barlow. Ironically, Silvagni played right under the Demons' noses at Casey last year so his appearance might become something of an embarrassment to the visitors.

The game also marks the return to the Dockers of the experienced Adam McPhee from where else but Essendon? They also have the formidable Kepler Bradley, coach Mark Harvey, Matthew Lloyd's brother and the recently retired Dean Solomon, all from Bomberland so I'm hoping that the Essendon curse that hit the State last week has hung around for an additional nine or ten days to finish off Fremantle as well.

Depite the demise of Solomon and an injury to Chris Tarrant, the Dockers still have the edge in experience with skipper Matthew Pavlich, two time All Australian Aaron Sandilands, David Mundy and Paul Hasleby Sandilands should dominate the ruck ahead of inexperienced opponents in Spencer and Martin and that, along with the home ground advantage will see them starting as favourites.

But don't discount the enthusiasm and fitness of the young Melbourne side. There is only one way for them and that is up and with my boys Scullgove and Trengully in the team then I'm going to tip a surprise upset for the bookies - Demons by 19 points.

Fremantle v Melbourne at Subiaco Oval, 8.40pm AEDT (TV: Fox Sports 2, 8.30pm)

Fremantle: Hayden Ballantyne, Anthony Morabito, Byron Schammer, Paul Hasleby, Garrick Ibbotson, Greg Broughton, Adam McPhee, Des Headland, Antoni Grover, Ryan Crowley, David Mundy, Luke McPharlin, Clayton Hickey, Michael Barlow, Chris Mayne, Dylan Robertson, Kepler Bradley, Ryan Murphy, Matthew Pavlich, Zachary Clarke, Aaron Sandilands, Stephen Hill, Alex Silvagni, Michael Johnson, Matt De Boer, Paul Duffield, Roger Hayden, Clancee Pearce, Jay Van Berlo.

Melbourne: Matthew Warnock, Nathan Jones, Clint Bartram, Brad Miller, James Frawley, Jack Trengove, Cale Morton, Colin Sylvia, Jordie McKenzie, Ricky Petterd, Jack Grimes, Brad Green, Addam Maric, Daniel Bell, Brent Moloney, James McDonald, Liam Jurrah, Kyle Cheney, Jared Rivers, Joel MacDonald, Tom Scully, Stefan Martin, Aaron Davey, Neville Jetta, Jake Spencer, Jamie Bennell, Rohan Bail, James Strauss, Jack Fitzpatrick.

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