GSFL 2020 Railways preview: New midfield and forward mix for Tigers in wake of key losses

Kleemann medallist Logan Stubber will not play for Railways this season, as the Tigers prepare to field a vastly different midfield brigade and forward line to one that played in a grand final last year. Stubber carried a torn anterior cruciate ligament for a large part of 2019, when he won his first Kleemann Medal as the competition’s best player. The damaging midfielder had surgery in October and will be a massive loss for the Tigers in their bid to go one step better this year. Adding to their midfield woes will be the absence of 2018 Kleemann medallist Joel Want for the early part of the season due to work commitments. Key forwards Zak Hortin and Kenton Gibbs combined for 49 goals last season but they will also be absent from the Tigers front half. Returning Claremont forward Matt Palfrey is a huge inclusion for the Tigers while they have also added skilful midfielder Harry Miles and Leighton Smith from Lake Grace-Pingrup. Tigers coach Troy Leo confirmed there will be a number of new faces in the yellow and black for their season opener against North Albany. “There will be a few missing early,” Leo said. “A few guys have been injured in the preseason so it will be a lot different-looking team to last year. “There is opportunity for a couple of younger guys to step into more prominent positions.” Craig Frost and Jack Steel will miss round one with injury while Miles and Smith will debut. The Tigers will give young players like Cyrus Upson, Ethan Rowe, Harry Hordacre and Coen Jackman more senior opportunity. Leo said it was great to have footy back.“Blokes like Matty Palfrey don’t fall out of the tree too often, he adds another dimension to our forward line,” he said. “It’s a bit of unknown, we want to be competitive and be in the conversation come finals time.” 2019 finish: Second Captain: TBC Coach: Troy Leo Ins: Leighton Smith (Lake Grace-Pingrup), Harry Miles, Matt Palfrey (Claremont), Michael Roberts Outs: Kyle Smith (Mt Barker), Ryan Harper, Kenton Gibbs, Zak Hortin, Logan Stubber, Will Matson