SANDHURST is planning around ruckman Tim Martin missing the majority of the first half of the BFNL season.
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The dual Michelsen Medal winner will start training with the Melbourne Fire Brigade next month, putting his availability with the Dragons in doubt.
“Tim’s fire brigade training is on a four days on, four days off basis,’’ Sandhurst coach Brett Fitzpatrick said.
“The days rotate, so the training will include some Saturdays. He’ll miss a fair part of the first half of the season, but we’re expecting him to be available late in the season.
“It will be interesting to see how we can play without him because he’s played such a huge role for us.”
Martin’s dominance in the ruck in the BFNL the past two seasons gave the Dragons the luxury of not needing a second ruckman to play off the bench.
At this stage the Dragons haven’t recruited another ruckman for 2015, meaning key position star Matt Thornton will carry the ruck load in Martin’s absence.
“We’ve looked around for a ruckman, but nothing has come of that yet,’’ Fitzpatrick said.
“Matt Thornton is a pretty good option to have in the ruck, but he had such a big impact at centre half-forward and centre half-back last year.
“We’ll see how we go, we might have to change our game plan a bit and concentrate on the depth of our midfield group.”
Sandhurst will play practice matches against Rochester away on March 14 and Geelong Football League club St Mary’s in Bendigo on March 21.
The Dragons open their BFNL season against reigning premier Strathfieldsaye at the QEO on Good Friday night.
“We looked at playing a practice match on March 28, but that would have only given us a six-day break into the Good Friday game,’’ Fitzpatrick said.
“I don’t think many teams will play that weekend.”