Tasmania Football Club coach Jeromey Webberley has confirmed Robbie Fox and Sam Siggins will both miss this weekend’s clash against Sandringham, with Fox being rested as part of a planned management strategy and Siggins ruled out through illness.
Webberley said the decision to rest Fox was made well in advance, with the small ground and heavy conditions not suiting the veteran.
“We had a set plan for a couple of weeks in terms of Robbie is definitely going to miss this week,” Webberley said.
“Small ground, heavy conditions for the second week in a row. We get him up to Brisbane on the wide open expanses of their home ground and in some good weather, we feel like that was the best situation for Robbie.”
Rory Wright will replace Fox in the side.
Webberley said the club needed to be smart about managing Fox through the back end of the season given his age and body issues.
“It’s about making sure that we manage him through to the back end of the year, so we see his best come the final series if we happen to get there,” he said.
The coach said those decisions are made on a rolling basis rather than following a rigid schedule.
“We sort of just assess how his body is, how he’s going, what does the travel look like for the next month, all those types of things come into account,” he said.
Siggins was given until Friday morning to prove his fitness for the Sunday game but ultimately pulled himself out.
“Sam just didn’t feel like he could participate at the level required, which was fantastic leadership to fall on his sword,” Webberley said.
Several players are in the frame to replace Siggins.
The Devils will be familiar with the Sandringham side, having already defeated the Melbourne based club by 26 points at UTAS Stadium in Round 6.
The coach also revealed he plans to continue coaching from the boundary for the rest of the year after spending the past two weeks there at the suggestion of the leadership group.
“Obviously clearly get a bit of a different view of the game and can give some individual feedback and send the runner out and all those types of things,” he said.
The Tasmania Devils will face off Sandringham on Sunday, June 21 at 1:05pm at Wilson Storage Trevor Barker Beach Oval.
