Sydney has made two forced changes for its Round 14 trip to face Port Adelaide, with Justin McInerney and Tom McCartin ruled out and Joel Hamling and Harry Cunningham brought in for Saturday night at Adelaide Oval.
It is a timely shuffle for a side that beat St Kilda by two points last weekend and is trying to string together three wins in a row for the second time this season. The match starts at 7:35 pm AEST, with Channel 7, Kayo and Fox Footy set to begin coverage from 7:00 pm.
McInerney’s setback is the bigger blow. He tore a hamstring in the opening half of the win over St Kilda last Sunday and is expected to miss 8-10 weeks, leaving Sydney without one of its running options for a road test that arrives quickly and with little room for adjustment. McCartin will also miss out in South Australia this weekend as he continues through the AFL concussion protocols after a heavy collision with St Kilda forward Liam Ryan in the third term.
Hamling and Cunningham earned their recall after successful runs with the VFL side. Hamling’s last AFL appearance came in Round 6, when Sydney beat the GIANTS by 41 points, while Cunningham returns to a line-up that has seen him play seven times this season — and win all seven of those games.
That record gives Sydney a reason for confidence, but it does not erase the problem in front of it. Dean Cox has already pointed to Port Adelaide’s ability to stay in games at Adelaide Oval, where it has beaten Geelong by 30 points, pushed Hawthorn and lost a Showdown by one point. Port Adelaide also comes in after a six-point win over West Coast in Perth last week, so Sydney will need Hamling and Cunningham to settle quickly if it is to cover the absences and keep its momentum alive.
