Experienced defender Taylor Duryea and first-year midfielder-forward Rhylee West will come into the selection mix for Sunday’s match against Collingwood at Marvel Stadium.
However, Dale Morris is one more week away from a return.
Duryea and West were among a host of standout performers at VFL level last week.
Senior coach Luke Beveridge hinted that Duryea was a likely inclusion to face the Pies, when asked if he would return at his press conference today.
“Probably - he’ll definitely be in that 26,” Beveridge said of Duryea.
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“He came back and played outstandingly well (for Footscray). He prepared himself well with Nick Stone and our return to play guys, so he’ll definitely come into the mix.”
Beveridge indicated West may be a chance to debut this week, but wants to be sure he is 100 per cent ready before he makes his AFL debut.
“Rhylee will be in the 26 that are selected (tonight),” Beveridge said.
“We’d love to give Rhylee an opportunity, but what we don’t want to do with our brand-new players… is throw them to the wolves and put them out there before they’re totally ready.
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“Rhylee’s shown some terrific signs… Hopefully we can get him in the team before the end of the year. It may be this week, but it may be a bit longer too."
Beveridge also confirmed that Morris would need another week to prepare for a VFL return.
“As you can expect, Dale will play for Footscray when he comes back, he’s been out for a while now. It took him two or three games last time to get his game fitness back up.
“Even though it still looks like he could be in one of the Marvel movies, he’ll need to just get his wits about him at state-league level and we’ll see if we can get him in the AFL team after that.”
