Merrin call a tough one for McGregor as resumption nears

Still only 30, Merrin was looking to make a glorious return to his junior club after three seasons away and played just shy of 70 minutes from the bench over the opening two rounds.

While limited time on the training park was a major factor in fellow veterans Issac Luke and Tim Lafai being left out, McGregor said Merrin's omission was one of those difficult selection calls coaches are forced to make.

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"There were five changes from round two to round three but they were the main ones we spoke about, they were discussed heavily," McGregor said.

"The discussion around Bully [Luke] was an easy one really, he's been tested for coronavirus and missed three of the last nine sessions.

"Cam [McInnes] is an 80-minute player, I wanted to carry an outside back [Euan Aitken] on the interchange and Bully hadn't done enough work, so it was the right thing to do there.

"With Mez, it was a difficult one. He's a person of great character, he's a very liked team member but it came down to a decision between him and another player and the other player won the battle for round three.

"We've got 31 of 32 players available, good players are going miss out. Mez knows where he needs to work on, he's working hard at it and when he gets his opportunity it's his spot to lose then."

Lafai was another regular to miss out after a tumultuous break that saw him served with an AVO over an incident in his home on Good Friday. He subsequently spent time in hospital to deal with mental health issues.

McGregor said the club has provided continued welfare support, but the Samoan International hasn't spent enough time on the training paddock to unseat Brayden Wiliame and Zac Lomax.

"Tim's going good and he's certainly on the right path to full recovery," McGregor said.

"He's getting the right help, he's been training consistently over the last two weeks so he's on a really good position in his life to keep improving on a daily basis.

"He missed a lot of training so, while he's healthy for selection, he's not hardened for selection.

"With the amount of training he's missed he needs to do more work to be ready. I just thought there were other centres in front of him for that reason."

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The reshuffle sees Zac Lomax shift to the centres, with Dufty retained at fullback and Aitken to play his first game of the season from the bench.

"Zac competes very hard, he's very fit and he wants to be in the game all the time and that's why we wanted to give him the opportunity where he could do that at fullback," McGregor said.

"The development and improvement hasn't come naturally enough to him just yet. Duft's trained really well, in our scrimmage on the weekend he was the best player on the field, so he won his selection just through his habits at training.

"We lost Mika [Ravalawa] early in round one and had to reshuffle our whole side so I wanted to have an outside back replacement. Euan couldn't have done anymore at training to be selected so he forces his way in on the interchange."