The GIANTS have named a 16-man squad for the inaugural three-day AFLX tournament which lands in Sydney this Saturday afternoon.
Led by established stars Tom Scully, Lachie Whitfield and Adam Tomlinson, the trio are joined by journeyman Sam Reid as well as Will Setterfield, Harry Perryman, Jeremy Finlayson and Daniel Lloyd, who all featured during the 2017 season.
New recruits Lachlan Keeffe (Collingwood) and Dylan Buckley (Carlton) will pull on the GIANTS jumper for the first time alongside 2017 draftees Aiden Bonar (pick 11) and Nick Shipley (pick 64).
Isaac Cumming and Lachie Tiziani - both coming into their second seasons on the GIANTS’ list - will add to their JLT Community Series experience from last year after impressing in the NEAFL during the 2017 season, with Cumming taking home the NEAFL Player of the Year award.
Local Sydney rookies Jack Buckley and Jake Stein will also get their first taste of footy, rounding out the squad.
23-year-old Whitfield will take on the captaincy for the first time for this event.
Coached by former NEAFL Head Coach and new Forwards Coach Brad Miller, the GIANTS will kick off the Sydney leg of the tournament against the reigning premiers, Richmond, before taking on the Brisbane Lions later in the tournament.
“We tried to pick a team that has really good aerobic capacity but also you have to be covered in case teams go tall," Miller said.
"We had to be able to have guys that were versatile and could play tall if the opposition decided to do that and tried to mark the footy.
“We’ve tried to have a team full of runners and a team full of guys that can cover a variety of positions.”
The new format will be played in Adelaide on Thursday night and Melbourne on Friday night before wrapping up in Sydney at Allianz Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Six teams will play in each city, with the GIANTS in the same pool as the Tigers, Swans, Bulldogs, Lions and Suns.
Each team has two scheduled games (made up of two 10-minute halves) before a Grand Final between the two best-performing sides.
Sydney AFLX Tournament
Saturday, February 17 from 4:10pm
Allianz Stadium, Moore Park
Pool A: GIANTS, Richmond, Brisbane Lions
Pool B: Swans, Western Bulldogs, Gold Coast SUNS
Schedule:
4:10pm GIANTS v Richmond
4:38pm Swans v Western Bulldogs
5:06pm Richmond v Brisbane Lions
5:34pm Western Bulldogs v Gold Coast SUNS
6:02pm Brisbane Lions v GIANTS
6:30pm Gold Coast SUNS v Swans
7:03pm Grand Final
GIANTS Squad
6. Lachie Whitfield
9. Tom Scully
10. Aiden Bonar
11. Will Setterfield
13. Isaac Cumming
31. Jeremy Finlayson
20. Adam Tomlinson
25. Lachlan Keeffe
33. Lachie Tiziani
34. Nick Shipley
36. Harry Perryman
38. Daniel Lloyd
41. Jack Buckley
42. Jake Stein
43. Dylan Buckley
50. Sam Reid
10 Things You Need to Know About AFLX:
- The 2018 AFLX tournaments will see three events being played across three days with the first at Hindmarsh Stadium, then Etihad Stadium and Allianz Stadium on Saturday, February 17. These events will feature six teams at each location with two pools of three playing in a round robin format. A Grand Final will be played at each event.
- The X in AFLX relates to the roman numeral character for the number ten which is a constant through the alternative version of the game with ten players (seven on the field and three on the bench with unlimited rotations), ten point super goals and ten minute halves for the 2018 AFLX Tournaments.
- Played on a rectangular field (approx. 70m width x 110m length) with four posts at each end (as per a normal AFL field). Ground markings will showcase an X in the centre square and it also has 40m arcs.
- Two field umpires, two boundary umpires and one goal umpire at each end of the ground.
- Free kick against for last touch out of bounds.
- Kick-ins from behind the goal line after all scores.
- No marks paid for backwards kicks (except in forward 40m area).
- Halves commence with a ‘ball up’ in the centre and at least two players from each team starting inside the 40m arc.
- Free shot from forward 40m arc – directly in front for deliberate rushed behinds.
- 10-point Zooper goals when goals kicked on the full from outside the 40m arc.
