Injuries will test Dolphins
16 June 2007 Herald-Sun
Geoff Poulter
FRANKSTON has been forced to re-jig its line-up again for tomorrow's big clash with Coburg Tigers.
The stand-alone Dolphins (10th), fielding few stars and only one player with AFL experience - former Saint Chris Oliver - have defied the odds so far this season by being highly competitive.
But after recently losing boom recruit Damien Adkins (from West Coast) for the season following ankle surgery, coach Brett Lovett now has to deal with the loss of his main ruckman Ashley Eames for two months with a broken leg.
"He will be six weeks in plaster and then do the rehab," Lovett said.
"We have Daniel Clark to ruck and also Oliver who is more key position.
"Eames is a big loss but Clark is a seasoned player and given the opportunity he has shown he can make a big impact. He is very wily at centre bounces and around the ground."
The Dolphins have also had to replace last season's 100-goal forward Aaron Edwards and have relied mainly on clever small and medium-sized forwards such as Jason Berry, Ricky Morris and Tory Dickson for much of their scoring power this year.
"The 100 goalkickers (such as Edwards) might never happen again. The way footy is played these days there is not so much contested ball anyway," Lovett said. "So it is matter of having mobile forwards who can lead and crumb and that's what we've got."
Frankston upset the Northern Bullants (seventh) last round and have a game in hand, having already had two byes.
"Our original goal was to try to make the top four and we haven't been able to beat any of the top four teams yet," Lovett said. "Coburg is fourth, so it will be a really testing period over the next three or four weeks for us if we want to play finals.
"Our guys love the challenge of playing against the AFL players so if they perform well on them they will attract (draft) attention.
"A lot of our players want to get drafted. There are a lot of Dandenong Stingrays boys that missed the first cut and, if they are still looking to do that, they have to have that self-discipline . . . and perform at their best."
Tomorrow the defence will have its hands full with Coburg's two Richmond forwards Jack Riewoldt and Jay Schulz plus a midfield that includes experienced AFL players Greg Tivendale and Andrew Krakouer, but Lovett is upbeat.
"We have had a stable backline for four or five years," Lovett said. "There is a lot of experience there. They know what's required and they team very well together."
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