Sam Draper hasn’t survived the cut for Essendon with coaches desperate for Max Gawn cover, while Jordan Ridley has been named to play along with a Gold Coast debutant.

TEAM NEWS
Ins: Sam Flanders (debutant), Brayden Fiorini, Josh Corbett, Dylan Clarke, Tom Bellchambers, Martin Gleeson
Outs: Alex Sexton, Jeremy Sharp (injured), Nick Holman, Michael Hurley (managed), Sam Draper (managed), Jacob Townsend (injured)
Retained: Izak Rankine, Connor Budarick, Jordan Ridley, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher

The big news is that Sam Draper (AF $238k SC $166k RUCK) has been managed by the Bombers, which will frustrate a lot of coaches who were using him as cover for Max Gawn.

Jordan Ridley (AF $629k SC $509k DEF) has been named for Essendon, although that doesn’t mean he’ll definitely play with Essendon painting a conservative picture earlier in the day.

Bombers Head of Medical David Rundle said: “Given the short turnaround we’ll continue to be conservative with the view to potentially play him for the St Kilda game. The decision on whether he plays this Wed or not is yet to be made.”

Gold Coast rookie Jeremy Sharp (AF $219k SC $117k MID) drops out with injury after his debut last round but it doesn’t seem like a long-term issue.

The Suns said: “Sharp has been managing a hip complaint from his debut game last week but is expected to be available moving forward.”

DEBUTANT ALERT
Sam Flanders (AF $250k SC $162k MID/FWD) will debut for Gold Coast. He’s a powerful medium forward/midfielder who’s been close to his debut on numerous occasions this season.

Gold Coast’s website wrote: “Flanders was taken with pick 11 in the 2019 NAB AFL Draft and has been a standout in recent scratch matches.”

GREENE CLOSE
GWS Giants coach Leon Cameron revealed Toby Greene (AF $652k SC $498k FWD) made a push to play next round against Sydney but he’ll more likely return in Round 13 against West Coast.

Greene was listed as out for one more week with a hamstring in the Giants latest injury list.

Cameron said: “Toby Greene tried to push to play this week but we’ll take a cautious approach and he’s on track for the next round.”

The Giants coach said Phil Davis (AF $343k SC $303k DEF) was touch-and-go to play against Sydney, rating him 60-40 but saying they’ll decide on Wednesday.

OTHERS
Carlton revealed Jack Martin (AF $614k SC $476k MID/FWD) only suffered a low-grade calf injury against West Coast despite not returning to play but has been ruled out of their Round 12 match with Fremantle.

Blues Director of High Performance Andrew Russell said: “We expect him to miss one or two weeks: we’ll see how he settles in the next few weeks and whether he’s ready for Darwin. I know he’s really excited about playing that game so hopefully he gets up for that. If not, it’ll certainly be the week after.”

TOMORROW
Port’s Travis Boak is the only name in the press conference diary. We’ll learn the Sydney-GWS teams for Thursday’s derby in Perth.