R16 Rolling Injury Report: Neale late withdrawal, Gaff ruled out, CCJ subbed
Stay up to date throughout the round with our rolling injury report from the coaches post-game. With the nine-game round extending from Thursday night through until Sunday afternoon, these snippets of info will be key.
Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne
Aaron Naughton (AF $518k SC $348k FWD) was concussed and Ed Richards (AF $399k SC $309k M/F) was a late withdrawal due to illness.
North had no injuries and didn’t use their sub.
Collingwood v St Kilda
Josh Daicos (AF $533k SC $335k M/F) was subbed off with a finger injury. Pies interim coach Rob Harvey said: “We’ll get that looked at overnight. Initially a dislocation but possibly some sort of fracture. We’re not sure yet.”
Saints coach Brett Ratten said Zak Jones (AF $621k SC $455k MID) was close to returning which may put pressure on selection. He said: “We expect Zak Jones will be available next week. Whether we pick him at senior level or play him at Sandy in the VFL, we’ll have that discussion during the week.”
Leo Connolly (AF $210k SC $123k D/M) may be one of those players under the pump but Ratten said: “We want to expose as many players as we can. Connolly to get another game at senior level is encouraging. Highmore was very pleasing tonight. We’ll keep pushing with some of our youth.”
Sydney v West Coast
Jack Redden (AF $694k SC $453k MID) was subbed off with a “knock to the knee”. Eagles coach Adam Simpson said Jamaine Jones (AF $357k SC $268k FWD) had an ankle sprain.
Andrew Gaff (AF $678k SC $456k MID) was withdrawn on Saturday. Simpson said: “Gaff has got a little thumb issue. We tested it yesterday and we thought it wasn’t worth the risk as he was in too much pain… We’re not quite sure (on extent) but it’s connected to pain tolerance.”
Sydney had no injuries and didn’t use their sub.
Fremantle v Carlton
Patrick Cripps (AF $645k SC $446k MID) was seen limping around and Carlton coach David Teague said: “I’m not sure how bad that is. He’s got a sore foot. We’ll go get that checked out and see exactly what that is. He was pretty confident and said that it felt ok except for kicking. If he got a knock on it at certain times it would hurt for a bit, but then after about a 100m run it would start to feel better again.”
Nat Fyfe (AF $659k SC $538k M/F/*) returned from a shoulder injury and got through. Freo coach Justin Longmuir said: “So far so good, he got a couple of stingers in the shoulder, that’s going to happen. I think he moved on pretty quick from them. I think they give him a little bit of pain for a little bit of time and then it gets back to normal, so he’s going to have to deal with that. I thought he moved on from each of those stingers pretty well. He will be week-by-week, but I think he got through the game pretty well.”
Neither side used their sub.
Hawthorn v Port Adelaide
Hawthorn didn’t use their sub while Port lost Kane Farrell (AF $389k SC $277k M/F) to a suspected ACL injury. Zak Butters (AF $616k SC $501k M/F) looms as a replacement after returning via the SANFL on the weekend.
Port coach Ken Hinkley said: “Zak will push for next Thursday. He got through the (SANFL) game well today… Zak Butters is an AFL player everyday of the week, he just needed to get a game under his belt to give him confidence that he can play.”
Adelaide v Brisbane Lions
Lachie Neale (AF $729k SC $575k MID) was a late withdrawal with a minor calf injury and the Lions expect him to be right next round.
Lions coach Chris Fagan said: “If we had to put the teams in on Friday, I would’ve put him out. On Thursday, he was still a chance to play. His shoulder’s recovered really well. He just had a bit of a calf niggle. He was able to run at 80-90% speed at our captain’s run. At the end of the day I didn’t think it was worth the risk. He wasn’t able to train properly all week. It made sense to give him a spell tonight. I’d be surprised if he’s not in the team next week.”
Taylor Walker (AF $542k SC $423k FWD) was subbed off with a neck issue, not concussion. Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks said: “He couldn’t move his neck at all but he’s OK, he’s just a little bit stiff and sore. We’re not sure (if he’ll have scans). It’s one they’ll probably let settle overnight.”
Melbourne v GWS Giants
GWS lost young defender Jack Buckley (AF $400k SC $366k D/M) to a suspected ACL injury early on. Melbourne didn’t use their sub.
Giants coach Leon Cameron was asked about veteran ruckman Shane Mumford (AF $435k SC $426k RUC) and whether he can back up, impacting Kieren Briggs (AF $255k SC $174k D/F).
“Answering that question is extremely hard,” Cameron said. “His back has been playing up and clearly his knees as well. He actually had three weeks off between efforts this week. I know it doesn’t sound right, because you’d like to play your ruckman back-to-back.
“He may get up, depending on whether it’s a seven- or eight-day break next week, I’m not sure. I’m also mindful that Matthew Flynn is really working on his craft with young Kieren Briggs. Seeing these guys get games, knowing that Shane is not at the front-end of his career and is right at the back-end, we’ll juggle that every week.”
Geelong v Essendon
Jeremy Cameron (AF $509k SC $449k FWD) was subbed off with injury. Geelong coach Chris Scott said: “He got a little bit of a cork up near his glute … his tightness was right down low in the hamstring. The medical staff are confident that he hasn’t done a significant injury, but it was just not getting better. You’re not looking at a significant injury.”
Gold Coast v Richmond
Callum Coleman-Jones (AF $430k SC $281k F/R) was subbed off at half-time with an apparent calf issue. Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said: “He probably was a little bit tender going into the game, we thought he’d get through. He hurt it relatively early, we subbed him off at HT when we thought we couldn’t get him right.”
It was also revealed after the game that Bachar Houli (AF $671k SC $465k DEF) had sustained an injury. Richmond said in an update: “In a moon boot and will likely need surgery for a mild ankle syndesmosis sprain suffered in last night’s loss to Gold Coast. The 33-year-old underwent scans today.”
