FOXTEL CUP PREVIEW V BOX HILL HAWKS

WEST Perth steps on to the national stage tonight to take on reigning VFL premiers the Box Hill Hawks in a first-round Foxtel Cup match up at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium.

The game will begin at 6.35pm WST with coverage live on the Fox Footy Channel and also on 91.3 SportFM. Entry into Etihad Stadium for those in Melbourne is free.

The clash is a battle of last year's WAFL and VFL premiers while the two teams have had varying starts to their 2014 premiership defences in their respective state league competitions.

West Perth lost its opening two games of the WAFL season to East Fremantle and Claremont, but bounced back with a win over Perth and then a 100-point thumping of the West Coast-partnered East Perth in a grand final rematch from last year.

That had the Falcons appearing to have things right back on track, but it hasn’t quite turned out that way with West Perth having lost its last two matches to South Fremantle and Swan Districts prior to last week's bye before the trip to Melbourne for the Foxtel Cup.

While the likes of Andrew Strijk, Andrew Krakouer, Trent Manzone, Dan Hunt, Matt Fowler, Jay van Berlo, Chris Keunen, Laine Rasmussen, Matt Spencer and Nick Rodda are among those not playing for West Perth, it remains a strong line-up.

Premiership players Matt Guadagnin, Shaun Marusic and Steve Potente come into the West Perth team from the side that lost to Swan Districts on Anzac Day.

In fact, the team to play in the Foxtel Cup features 12 players that took part in last year's premiership team.

The Falcons will also take the chance to blood some youth with Mitch van Berlo, Max Alexander and Jack Thrum to make their senior football debuts while ruckman Seva Martin will play his first game for West Perth after previously playing four league matches with Subiaco.

Box Hill, meanwhile, sits on top of the VFL ladder and is continuing its form on from last year after winning the grand final against Geelong.

Box Hill is aligned with Hawthorn, but is team for the Foxtel Cup clash will feature 10 AFL-listed players - Kaiden Brand, Kurt Heatherley, Ben Ross, James Sicily, Sam Grimley, Dallas Willsmore, Luke Lowden, Alex Woodward, Shem-Kalvin Tatupu and Zac Webster.

West Perth coach Bill Monaghan is looking forward to the chance of letting his players loose on national television at Etihad Stadium, but admits it isn’t easy preparing for an opponent he knows little about.

"The concept of the Foxtel Cup is fantastic and the players are excited about being exposed on national television at the best stadiums in the country. That is stuff we don’t normally get to do," Monaghan said.

"What I am excited about is that we will be able to take some players on the cusp of league selection who have been performing well in the reserves, and we will get a good gauge of where they are at against a quality opponent.

"All we can do is prepare for the way they play and clearly Hawthorn, and by extension I would assume Box Hill, play a fairly noticeable style of football so we will try to pick up on that, and get as much information as we can. We'll try to work out where we think we can expose them and look at their strengths that we need to nullify, and go out and have a crack. That's all we can do."

West Perth premiership, and former Carlton-listed, player Rohan Kerr is one player in the Falcons line-up with experience playing on Etihad Stadium and he's looking forward to the chance to do so again.

"I have had the chance to play at Etihad Stadium a few times as well so I am looking forward to getting back there. I played there when I was 17 in the under-18 grand final, in the NAB Cup games for Carlton against Richmond and Collingwood, and I've actually done all right on Etihad. We'll see how I go again this week and see if it's kind to me again," Kerr said.

"As a ground, the space there is pretty similar to the grounds we play on here but the conditions are actually a lot quicker with the roof being closed. It's a lot more free-flowing which I think will suit us more than a Box Hill VFL team who pay more in-close and contested footy. Hopefully we can get the game on our terms, play how we want to play and come away with the win.

"The bigger stage the better really for a lot of us. Last year we had a lot of boys who had never had played on Patersons Stadium before the grand final, but that was very exciting and that turned out well for us. So I think this week will be similar and I think everyone is looking forward to playing there. I think everyone will be more excited than daunted about playing there."

BOX HILL HAWKS TEAM

Backs: Kaiden Brand David Mirra Kurt Heatherley

Half Backs: Michael Thompson Ayden Kennedy Pat Lawlor

Centres: Marc Lock Sam Iles Ben Ross

Half Forwards: James Sicily Xavier Murphy Sam Cust

Forwards: Sam Collins Sam Grimley Dallas Willsmore

Followers: Luke Lowden Alex Woodward Mitch O'Donnell

Interchange: Shem Tatupu Ryan Exon Brandon Wood

Interchange: Zac Webster  

Emergencies: Tom Gordon Sam Crocker Luke Andrews

BY CHRIS PIKE