COBDEN is hopeful three footballers hurt in a pre-season practice match will be available for round one selection.
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New Bombers coach Adam Courtney said Charlie Darcy, Paul Pekin and Ryleigh McVilly were casualties against Geelong league outfit Colac on Saturday.
Courtney said he was unsure how they would pull up ahead of the Bombers' Hampden league season-opener against Warrnambool at Reid Oval on April 6.
"We lost three midfielders in the first quarter," he said.
"Charlie did his knee in the first five seconds, Paul did his hamstring at the 10-minute mark and McVilly rolled his ankle at the 20-minute mark.
"We're just waiting to see on them. Charlie will get an MRI this week and it might not be too bad but we're not too sure and Paul should be right for round one and same as Ryleigh."
Cobden has two more practices matches against Drysdale and Barwon Heads before round one.
Courtney said playing both weeks leading up to the season-opener was a calculated decision.
"We're playing three pretty good opposition teams and that's what we wanted," he said.
"We don't want to become complacent by playing sides you might be able to beat by a fair bit.
"We wanted to play quality opposition so leading into round one we know exactly where we're at.
"We have Easter off after two games so we wanted to lead into (round one) with plenty of match practice under our belts."
Courtney said the Bombers, who are focussing on development in 2019, fell away against Colac.
He said losing Darcy, Pekin and McVilly early impacted their rotations.
"We were really competitive early but got blown away in the end because their fitness levels are a lot better than ours and their average height was six-foot-one whereas ours was five-foot-10," he said.
Cobden finished last season in eighth spot with six wins and 12 losses.
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