Collingulliue-Glenfield Park co-captain Jayden Klemke will return from injury for Saturday’s clash against Leeton-Whitton.
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Klemke has missed the Demons’ past two wins after sustaining ligament damage to his ankle early in the loss to Griffith at Exies Oval.
Klemke has declared himself a certain starter to meet the Crows and confirmed he could play forward in the absence of Marc Geppert and Luke Gestier.
“Yeah I’ll play this week, it’s feeling pretty good,” Klemke said.
“It’s been talked about (playing forward). We haven’t had any real serious discussions about it yet but it might be an option with no Geppert and Gestier.”
Klemke has won the past two Jim Quinn Medals to establish himself as the premier midfielder in the competition.
The 23-year-old has often gone forward however and proved dangerous.
He kicked nine goals against Narrandera in a game in 2016 and is strong overhead mark so he could be a logical replacement for the Demons’ twin towers.
“I’m happy to do whatever really,” he said.
“Matty Klemke and Jimmy Kennedy are going really well in the middle. Matty has really stood up this year, and Jimmy has taken the next step as well, along with Pez (Nick Perryman).”
Klemke conceded the Demons’ forward line battled last week without Geppert and Gestier in a 15-point win over Narrandera.
“It struggled a bit, but our skills are letting us down. It’s been the biggest let down for the year,” he said.
“If we can improve that then we’ll be going alright. So we didn’t give them good opportunities last week and we have been very up and down.”
The Demons sit in second position heading into the business end of the season and Klemke said they are yet to hit their straps.
“There is still plenty of improvement, we haven’t played our best footy yet, which is good, but we’ve got to try and get to our best footy,” he said.
“We’ve had a few injuries but we’ve got the depth to cover them.”
Sean Keith will also return for the Demons’ clash against the Crows.
Leeton-Whitton, the reigning premiers, have won three of their last four games to move to fifth position on the ladder.
Klemke acknowledges it will be a serious test.
“Leeton are going pretty well and have still got a lot of handy players with O’Garey, Hodge and Muir,” he said.
“We need to play for four quarters, that’s our biggest goal this week.”
