Former AFL player Shane O'Bree to line up for Darley

O’Bree, who made his debut for the Devils in round four, has been named to return against Redan at Darley Park.

The 247-game former AFL star, who retired in 2010, injured his hamstring in his initial outing for Darley in May.

Darley coach Rod MacPherson said O’Bree seemed to have recovered from the injury and was fully fit to play.

Given his assistant coaching roles with both Geelong AFL and VFL sides do not rule him out of action, MacPherson said it was a given that O’Bree would pull on the familiar black and white stripes on Sunday.

The 34-year-old could almost have played two weeks ago, but a decision was made to rest him to ensure he was 100 per cent fit.

“He’s still so classy and professional so of course you want somebody like that in your side,” MacPherson said.

MacPherson, who earlier in the year put the kibosh on a one-off appearance from Anthony Koutoufides for Darley,  said the impact of having an irregular player in the side was discussed at length within the club.

Although a senior player would inevitably drop out of the side for O’Bree, MacPherson said it felt to be the right decision for the club.

“We talked about it at the start of the year and the consensus was that people were happy for him to come and play a few games for the year,” he said.

“He only needs three games to qualify for finals so we are pretty keen to get him qualified for that.”

In other selection news, dominant Sunbury ruckman Pat Cariss has been ruled out with a leg injury that he sustained in last week’s round of matches.

Cariss could possibly have played this week, but it was decided playing him was not worth the risk.

Lake Wendouree coach Gavin Webb has also been ruled out with yet another concussion, but will coach from the sidelines this weekend.

patrick.nolan@fairfaxmedia.com.au