The development of West Coast’s younger players was validated today when the match committee immediately recalled midfielders Dom Sheed and Elliot Yeo for Sunday’s crunch game against North Melbourne in Hobart.
The inclusion of Sheed, who missed two games with a hand injury, is a shining example of the impact he had in the first seven rounds.
Yeo, a little more experienced and impactful, was always considered an automatic recall after serving a one-game suspension as a result of a high spoil against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium in round eight.
Sheed, the club’s top draft selection from the 2013 ballot, enjoyed an outstanding pre-season where he worked harder than at any point of his evolving career, and he has taken that into games.
There has been no AFL Rising Star nomination in that time, but like teammates Jackson Nelson and Liam Duggan, he must surely have had his name mentioned in despatches as the selection committee met every Monday to settle on the recipient each round.
Sheed and Yeo have been included at the expense of Brant Colledge and Jamie Bennell, both of whom are unlucky.
But the match committee, after having to use their imagination to cover all positions early in the season, now have a much better “problem” with a range of players coming back from injury.
This clash with North is another important encounter and the team travelled to the Apple Isle this afternoon in the quest for four more precious points. Bennell travelled as the emergency.
