THE Bendigo Gold will today unveil one of their top recruits for the first time when Shannen Lange lines up against the Box Hill Hawks at the Queen Elizabeth Oval.
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Lange joined the Gold in January, excited by the challenge of playing with the stand-alone VFL club, but also to keep his AFL dream alive.
Lange finished runner-up last year in the best and fairest for TAC Cup club Gippsland Power, but was overlooked at the AFL national draft.
A hamstring injury has delayed Lange’s start to the season, but he has been picked today to take on the Hawks in round five.
“He hurt his hamstring before Christmas training elsewhere and then suffered a reoccurrence with us, so it has been a case of management so that once he’s right, he can play the last 14 games for us,” Gold coach Aussie Jones said yesterday.
“He’s a genuine AFL prospect, so he’s a big inclusion for us.
“He could have played last week, but we were cautious, and with the extra eight days, it’s going to make him even more hungry for the contest tomorrow.”
Lange, 18, will start on the interchange, but will form part of the Gold’s midfield rotation.
“What Shannen has given us is the ability to have one of our prime midfielders start on the bench, so that when the likes of Steven Stroobants and Alik Magin come off, we’ll be injecting another prime midfielder into the play,” Jones said.
“We’re really looking forward to him getting out there and playing for us tomorrow.”
Also coming into the team today are Jake Aarts, Nathan Beck and Tom Cain.
Out from the team that lost to Collingwood by 116 points last Friday night are Dillon Williams, Jordan Collins, Steven Gough and Daniel Battaglin.
Today will be the Gold’s first Saturday afternoon game at the QEO this season.
The Gold’s first three home games have all been Friday night clashes, so today is their first match where they will be going up against local leagues.
“Within the club, our whole approach is realistic and we’re not expecting a huge crowd,” Jones said.
“But hopefully, some of the loyal followers who have enjoyed the Friday night experience and seen how good the standard is will come along.”
Box Hill – which is aligned with Hawthorn – has won two of its first four games and sits eighth on the ladder.
“They have guys like Derek Wanganeen, who is like a mini Cyril Rioli,” Jones said.
“It will be another great hit-out for the boys and we’ll be doing our best to make sure we’re in the contest.”
Today’s game at the QEO starts at 2.30pm.
