Waalitj Marawar’s midfield will face another tough challenge against flag contender Narrm after being taught a difficult lesson by Collingwood without injured star Elliot Yeo, according to coach Adam Simpson.

The Demons’ midfield brigade, led by champion ruck Max Gawn, Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney are renowned amongst the competition’s elite.

But the visitors also boast the second-stingiest backline in the AFL, marshalled by Steven May and Jake Lever, and have fond memories of Optus Stadium, winning their past six-straight at the venue, including the 2021 Grand Final.

“It’s not just their midfield, they’re a premiership contender,” Senior coach Adam Simpson said ahead of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round clash.

“Their availability is always pretty good, the four guys they have through the middle are all A+ players, they’re predictably good in what they do with their craft and their contest.

“When we’re good in that space we perform quite well, when we’re poor, we’ve been struggling, so that’s going to be a major part of the game.”

Emerging Waalitj forward-ruck Bailey Williams will come face to face with six-time All Australian ruck Max Gawn, and while Williams has performed admirably in recent weeks, it’s going to be a challenging match up.

“It’s a big challenge for us, Bailey has been fighting above his weight division probably ever since he’s been in the ruck,” Simpson said.

“(Matt) Flynn will come back in the next couple of weeks, so that’s a good opportunity for him to play, but at the moment, Bailey has just got to do his best and compete as hard as he can and try and make it a neutral contest.

“Max is probably the best ruck in the league at the moment so we’re not delusional, there’s going to be some issues there.”

Speedy utility Jamaine Jones will return to the senior side this week for Harvey Johnston (omitted), and Jake Waterman will be a welcome inclusion after missing last week’s game with concussion protocols.

“We’ll bring in Jamaine Jones this week, he’ll come in for Harvey,” Simpson said.

“Obviously we’ve lost ‘Petch’ (Jack Petruccelle) so we’re a bit unders with our half-forwards, so he (Jones) may play in the front half and help to bring a bit of pressure.

“Waterman comes in, and we’ll work on who the sub is in the next 24 hours.”

Midfield bull Elliot Yeo missed last weekend’s game against Collingwood with a groin strain, and has been ruled out of this weekend’s clash with the Dees.

“He was close, he trained, not fully though, he got through training, but he just didn’t feel confident,” Simpson said.

“It was a fifty-fifty call, but just with his history, quite often we go off what ‘Yeoy’ is feeling, so we’re going to give him another week.

“He should fully train next week and hopefully be available against Adelaide.”

Waalitj has seen an average of over 51,000 fans flock to each of their last three home games, and Simpson said the connection between the club and the supporters is noticeably growing. 

“I feel like the connection between our players and our supporters has gone up a level,” Simpson said.

“Obviously we saw it back in the day when we first started at Optus, and it’s a new stadium still, but I feel like that connection is sort of back again.

“I’m sure it’s based on effort and intensity and some of our youth coming through as well, but the connection with our crowd, you can sort of feel that it feels a bit different.

“We’ve got a responsibility to play at our best, and we really appreciate our crowd.”