Lachie Hansen has shrugged off a minor shoulder injury and is ready for the challenge of playing as North's sole key forward
LACHIE Hansen has shrugged off a minor shoulder injury and is ready for the challenge of playing as North Melbourne's sole key forward against West Coast at Patersons Stadium this Sunday.Which is just as well, because Hansen's importance to the Kangaroos this Sunday cannot be overstated.Not only will his teammates look to him to provide a focal point in attack in the absence of suspended vice-captain Drew Petrie, he will also be expected, at times, to take on the ruck duties in North's forward line to give No.1 ruckman Todd Goldstein a rest.Hansen told afl.com.au on Thursday he was looking forward to taking on this multi-pronged role against the Eagles, saying he'd gained confidence from playing as a key forward when Petrie was out injured for most of last year."Last year for the last few rounds I was the only tall key forward, so I'm used to playing that role. But we've got some other good mid-sized forwards in 'Azza' (Aaron Edwards), Benny Warren and Ben McKinley who's come down from West Coast."So we'll be able to cover 'Drewy', but it would always be better if he was out there with us. "West Coast will be up and about. It will be a good test, but everyone is looking forward to it."While North's forward-line planning for 2011 has centred around Hansen and Petrie playing as dual key forwards, Hansen said Petrie's absence meant he was likely to play closer to goal on Sunday."I think when Drew's back in the team, we'll both switch between the deep-forward and hit-up-forward roles," he said."But against the Eagles I'll probably be staying a bit deeper. I'll try to be that big target in the forward line and hopefully take some marks closer to goal."Hansen's shoulder injury was suffered in a forward-line ruck duel against GWS three weeks ago, but he said he had no trepidations about continuing to pinch-hit in the ruck when required."It was a freak accident against GWS. I just got my arm caught in an awkward spot, it twisted around and I tried to turn around when I shouldn't have," he said."I've been doing a lot of extra ruck work the past couple of weeks at training with (midfield coach) Darren Crocker and (ruck coach) Alex Ishchenko, so I've learned a lot."Besides I’m tall enough so I should be able to hold my own in the ruck."The No.3 pick in the 2006 NAB AFL Draft enters his fifth AFL season this year, with 50 games under his belt.The majority of those games have been played in defence, but with Petrie sidelined for all but two games last year Hansen shifted to the forward line midway through the season and flourished, kicking 23 goals in his final 12 games.Hansen is now convinced his future lies on the forward line, with his main focus this pre-season working with his fellow forwards on leading patterns."In previous years I wasn't really sure what I was doing but ever since I went forward I've got a lot of confidence," he said."I'm still getting used to where all the forwards run and watching a lot of vision, but hopefully this year it will just continue on from how I went last year and I'll be able to kick some goals for the team and have a good season."Lachie Hansen is a $287,700 forward in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition.
