There will be no shortage of exciting young talent on display when the Bombers travel to the Gold Coast this weekend to take on the Brisbane Lions in Round 1 of the NAB Cup.
 
Matthew Knights will rest a number of senior players and has promised to play the kids in Saturday’s encounter - including the Club's top two draft picks in David Myers and Tayte Pears - to give the youth of the club an exciting opportunity.

 

“We will take a young side up to the Gold Coast,” Knights said.

 

“We are presenting a wonderful opportunity for players like Danny Chartres, Sam Lonergan, Leroy Jetta and Andrew Lee who have put in a lot of hard work they are going to play in very prominent positions.

 

“We are going to have a very young midfield and it is really exciting for our young guys to have the opportunity to play against Brisbane’s quality midfield and it will be a great experience for them.”

 

One exciting prospect that Knights is looking forward to testing out on Saturday night is Scott Gumbleton.

 

“Scott will be playing this week and we expect him to play a lot of time in the forward half,” Knights said.

 

“He is someone that the AFL hasn’t seen a lot of due to hamstring injuries curtailing his season last year. From our perspective it will be really exciting to see Scott up and running and playing this weekend.”

 
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Knights admits he cannot believe he will be coaching his first senior game on Saturday but is desperately looking forward to the encounter.

 

“I think when we get on the plane on the way over to Queensland on Friday, it will actually hit me that it is the first game,” Knights said.

 

“There is no doubt there will be a few nerves but I am really excited for the players and the younger players in particular who have done a lot of work over the last season or the last two pre-seasons.

 

""A lot of those young men will be getting the opportunity to play on the big stage which is fantastic.”

 

Denying speculation that he will be under added pressure due to being a first-time coach, Knights is confident that his team will go out and play their best and learn from the experience.

 

“I think there is pressure on every AFL coach given the industry we are in,” Knights said.

 

“I don’t feel like I am under any more pressure than a Mick Malthouse or John Worsfold because we all want to be in the business of being successful.

 

""Everyone is going to be critiqued from a positive point of view as well as an area of improvement point of view.”

 

Knights has ruled out a number of senior players for the match including Dustin Fletcher, Andrew Welsh, Brent Stanton, Mark McVeigh, Jason Winderlich, Jobe Watson, Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas and Andrew Lovett.
 
He said Lloyd - who recently suffered a slight tightening in his hamstring - needed to be carefully managed because he trains so hard every session adding that it's an area the club would focus on.