Fremantle has lost a favourite son. After departing Hawthorn at the end of the 1994 season, Ben Allan (born in Western Australia) returned home to become the Dockers’ inaugural captain.
Allan resigned at the end of 1997 after only 47 games for the Dockers, therefore the club was unable to sign his talented son, Ed, due to AFL father-son rules (a father must have played 100 games for the club to be eligible). Ed Allan is set to make his AFL debut for Collingwood, and in an unexpected twist, it will be against Fremantle. The Pies selected Ed Allan with pick No.19 in the 2022 draft.
And Dockers supporters will get a firsthand look at the young Collingwood player’s abilities when the Pies face Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Friday night. If that isn’t bad enough, the Allan family will be rooting for the reigning champions.
“We’re all Magpies now,” Ben Allan explained. “Collingwood doesn’t need any help with membership, but they’ll get some over here. That’s wonderful. “Blood is thicker than water, so we will follow him.” Craig McRae, Collingwood’s coach, explained why Ed was selected despite his strong VFL performance. “There’s a number of reasons why his (Allan’s) name would be up in lights,” McRae said Tuesday. “He is our fittest player. He can run further than most of our players, which could be beneficial after a couple of six-day pauses.”
In his last VFL game, Allan recorded 17 disposals, nine tackles, five clearances, and one goal. The Pies have also stated that former cricketer Wil Parker will make his debut barely 104 days after his last match.
Parker, a leg-spinner who played in the BBL for the Hobart Hurricanes, was signed as a Category B Rookie in February and has impressed across half-back in the VFL, averaging 16 disposals and 3.2 tackles.
The news comes as Collingwood revealed that midfield bull Jordan De Goey would not face Fremantle (and could potentially be sidelined for longer) after suffering an abdominal strain in the teams’ dramatic win over Adelaide.
De Goey (abdomen), Reef McInnes (concussion) and Will Hoskin-Elliott (hamstring) were just some of the names hurt in that game, and Jamie Elliott, Dan McStay, Jeremy Howe, Reef McInnes are also still sidelined.
In better news, however, forwards Beau McCreery and Brody Mihocek are on track to return from concussion and a hamstring strain respectively after training normally on Tuesday.
“Likely that Beau and Brody will play. They got through training,” McRae sad.
“That was the plan – you get through, you’re more likely to play. So we’ll probably pick those two.
“It’s (the forward line) been a bit of a revolving door.
“I said after the game (forwards coach) Scott Selwood’s done an incredible job because it just hasn’t looked the same for three or four weeks now and we’re managing to find ways to still score.”
Collingwood are fifth on the ladder after a slow start to the season.
McRae indicated with a six-day break and a long trip to and from Perth for Friday’s game that resting players could be on the cards.
Be the first to comment