Selection: Bombers Jet Into City Oval For Hawks Test

The ladder-leading Box Hill Hawks have made five changes for the visit of Essendon on Saturday, regaining some tall timber, a speedy small forward, plenty of outside run and an exciting debutant.

Into the mix comes ruckman Ned Reeves, who missed the win over Sandringham with a minor knock, versatile big man Max Ramsden, who will play his 50th VFL game for the Hawks, live wire small Matt Hill resumes off a spell to manage soreness, while hard-running winger Ethan Stanley is likewise included off a week’s rest.

There’s exciting news in the form of Griff Julian, who has been handed a VFL debut. A product of West Perth in the WAFL, Julian represented WA as an underage player and will make his Box Hill bow having overcome a series of niggles early in the season.

Out of the line-up which saw off the Zebras a week ago are the elevated pair of Finn Maginness and Calsher Dear, who were both rewarded for strong showings with a ticket to Perth, while Kye Declase has been managed following a heavy workload across the past few weeks.

Young duo Jamie Uhr-Henry and Billy Hicks have been omitted on balance.

With the senior Hawks’ side interstate and not playing until 8pm AEST, City Oval is the best place for the brown and gold family to get their footy fix this weekend – and for the second consecutive week fans will be treated to a massive double header.

Our VFLW side get the action underway from 11:35am, before the VFL team take the field at 2:05pm.

Any changes to the selected 23 will be communicated prior to Saturday’s first bounce.

Additions: N. Reeves, M. Ramsden, M. Hill, E. Stanley, G. Julian (NEW)

Omissions: F. Maginness (AFL), C. Dear (AFL), J. Uhr-Henry, K. Declase (managed), B. Hicks

Squad: 2. M Lewis, 7. N Reeves, 8. S Frost, 14. J Scrimshaw, 22. L Breust, 27. W McCabe, 29. J Serong, 32. C Anderson, 36. J Blanck, 38. M Ramsden, 39. J Scaife, 41. M Hill, 42. B Macdonald, 44. H Hustwaite, 54. L Ward, 58. T Bianco, 62. S Horner, 65. E Stanley, 67. J Sammartino, 70. J Arundell, 72. J Baldwin, 74. B Simondson, 75. G Julian

Emergencies: 50. S Durdin, 52. B Cavarra, 61. M Donohue, 63. B Hicks, 68. D Wood, 76. T Farrer, 79. B McCormack, 83. M Schwab