HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson says a “gut feel” sparked his decision to drop Border big man Jonathan Ceglar in favour of Dederang’s Ben McEvoy for today’s AFL grand final against Sydney.
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Clarkson said he felt for Ceglar and fellow omission Jonathan Simpkin but made no apologies for the decision.
McEvoy and livewire Cyril Rioli came in for Hawks at the expense of the pair, despite neither having played a part in the finals series so far.
“Those guys have been playing really good footy over the past six weeks but it’s just a gut feel thing,” Clarkson said.
“We think that McEvoy is going to make a solid contribution for us.”
Clarkson said Ceglar and Simpkin weren’t the only hard-luck stories for the Hawks.
Brad Sewell, a 200-gamer, was also left out.
“That’s never easy but I’m not the only coach that’s ever had to do that,” Clarkson said.
“There’s heartache stories just about every year.
“Not just for the two boys who were left out of our side from last week’s preliminary final, either, in Ceglar and Simpkin but Brad Sewell, a very, very decorated servant of our football club and a number of other players who have contributed enormously over the course of the year.
“You can only pick 22.
“We’d love to be like the NFL where you have about 20 blokes sitting on your bench but you just can’t do that.”
Clarkson said Ceglar, who had been selected ahead of former Catholic College Wodonga schoolmate McEvoy for the Hawks’ past four games, had taken the news well.
The Hawthorn coach said Ceglar had been a “beauty” for the Hawks this season.
“They’re disappointed and so are their teammates and so are we but they know the reality of league footy, too,” Clarkson said.
“You’ve got to pick a side that we think is going to give us the best chance of victory.”
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