The Thorne Builders AFL Mackay Crows head into enemy territory this weekend to defend the Muldoon Family Shield at the newly developed Tony Ireland Stadium in the Riverway precinct of Townsville.
When the two sides last met in 2006, the Mackay Crows secured a three goal victory, their first in over seven years. On paper, this year’s Crows squad is one of the strongest on record, which includes the standout players from each of the AFL Mackay clubs.
Crows coach Darren Crossley named his squad, which was selected following close observation at training and the inaugural City v Country match last weekend, at a presentation night hosted by Manpower on Wednesday night.
The team, captained by two time MJ Miller medallist, John Price, will travel to Townsville tonight to prepare for Saturday’s match, to be played under lights at the 1,000 seat stadium, purpose built for AFL.
The attacking flare of North Mackay’s Craig Dowdell, Bakers Creek’s Matt Hungerford and Eastern Swans Heath Brown, combined with centre dominance of Moranbah’s Tim Bone and Mackay City’s Chris Butcher is set to dominate the Townsville side’s flimsy defence.
The defensive prowess of Whitsunday’s John Ryan, a two-time Crows representative player, will repel any attacking opportunities the Townsville side can muster.
AFL Mackay Chairman, Steve Pel was delighted with the team, and their preparation. “The new-found interest in representative football by our players is fantastic, and has allowed us to put the best team possible on the field this Saturday night”, he commented.
As part of the Manpower AFL Mackay premiership season, this representative match against the Townsville Eagles is played biannually, which builds into a programme of selection matches for higher representative duties.
Players in tomorrow night’s match have the opportunity to represent Queensland in the Australian Country Football Championships to be played in Shepparton, Victoria in July. The 2008 ACFC Championships will form part of the AFL's 150th year celebration of Australian Rules football.
COACH: Darren Crossley
ASSISTANT COACH Assistant Coaches: Gary Hutchinson; John Price
TEAM MANANGER: Iain Park
TRAINER: Naomi “Chicken” Johnston
UMPIRES: Simon Henderson (F); Ian Draper (G)
NO.
|
NAME
|
HEIGHT (CM)
|
WEIGHT (Kg)
|
DOB
|
CLUB
|
1.
|
Dylan Lambert
|
180
|
80
|
6/4/89
|
Whitsunday
|
2.
|
Mark Pollard
|
180
|
70
|
21/5/86
|
Whitsunday
|
3.
|
Aaron Hancock
|
175
|
77
|
15/1/85
|
Whitsunday
|
4.
|
Craig Dowdell
|
176
|
68
|
11/10/81
|
North Mackay
|
5.
|
Chris Butcher
|
183
|
85
|
13/4/81
|
Mackay City
|
6.
|
Heath Brown
|
182
|
77
|
28/12/80
|
Eastern Swans
|
7.
|
Nick O'Reiley
|
188
|
92
|
9/10/84
|
Whitsunday
|
8.
|
Dustin Fergus
|
188
|
94
|
20/12/80
|
North Mackay
|
9.
|
Peter Bond
|
180
|
83
|
7/4/83
|
Whitsunday
|
10.
|
Tom Baldissera
|
185
|
85
|
26/2/86
|
Whitsunday
|
11.
|
John Ryan
|
185
|
86
|
3/8/78
|
Whitsunday
|
12.
|
Tim Jenkins
|
188
|
92
|
24/3/85
|
North Mackay
|
13.
|
James McKenzie
|
180
|
90
|
7/12/82
|
Whitsunday
|
14.
|
Sam Bilal
|
179
|
81
|
3/12/90
|
North Mackay
|
15.
|
John Price
|
180
|
90
|
8/12/80
|
North Mackay
|
16.
|
Ivan Walker
|
179
|
75
|
23/7/78
|
Eastern Swans
|
17.
|
Tim Bone
|
175
|
78
|
8/3/83
|
Moranbah
|
18.
|
Peter Farrant
|
190
|
92
|
21/7/82
|
North Mackay
|
19.
|
Matt Hungerford
|
178
|
68
|
27/2/91
|
Bakers Creek
|
20.
|
Scott Thomas
|
190
|
90
|
8/4/81
|
North Mackay
|
21.
|
Andrew McMahon
|
201
|
107
|
03/05/80
|
North Mackay
|
22.
|
Zane Templeman
|
198
|
99
|
10/10/84
|
Whitsunday
|
23.
|
Ben Crosbie
|
190
|
90
|
11/6/81
|
Bakers Creek
|
24.
|
Chris Lemm
|
188
|
88
|
13/11/81
|
North Mackay
|
25.
|
Nathan Cross
|
176
|
75
|
28/12/85
|
Mackay City
|
Last Modified on 10/01/2009 18:23