R18 Rolling Injury Report: Josh Kelly update, Dusty season over, Highmore worry
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.
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GWS Giants v Sydney
Josh Kelly (AF $793k SC $556k M/F) went off with an ankle concern. GWS coach Leon Cameron said: “Not at this stage (any info on the extent). It’s the same ankle he hurt a few weeks ago… It wasn’t good enough to come back on the field.”
Matthew Flynn (AF $446k SC $400k RUCK) was also injured, subbed out with a shoulder problem. Cameron added: “Flynny attempted to come back on and we gave him a five-minute stint & it didn’t work. Fingers crossed it’s not too bad but it doesn’t look good with his shoulder.”
Callum Mills (AF $799k D/M SC $572k DEF) and Toby Greene (AF $605k SC $449k FWD) were among a host of late outs, due to being reclassified as tier 2 contacts at the Australia-France rugby game.
On Greene who may need to serve a 14-day quarantine period ruling him out of Round 19 along with all those involved, Cameron added: “We’re a far better team when he’s playing for us but whatever happens, we’ll deal with it in the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Adelaide v West Coast
Nick Murray (AF $240k SC $240k DEF) was subbed out for Adelaide. Crows Head of Player Health & Performance Rehab Tim Parham said: “Nick attempted to spoil early in the fourth quarter and landed awkwardly and heavily. He was taken from the ground with suspected concussion. He will now be subject to ongoing clinical assessment and the AFL concussion protocol.”
Luke Shuey (AF $612k SC $427k MID) was subbed out late with a calf complaint. Eagles coach Adam Simpson said: “He (Shuey) has got calf awareness and we just didn’t want to take a risk. “At this stage we don’t know (the severity). It could be nothing and we are holding out hope (of that).
“It is definitely minor but because of his history we didn’t want to take a risk … I can’t tell you what is going to happen. He was aware of it and maybe he is over-sensitive and maybe he is not, so we will just hope for the best.”
Collingwood v Carlton
Josh Thomas (AF $465k SC $321k FWD) was subbed out with a “standard concussion”. Pies coach Rob Harvey was asked about a possible Taylor Adams‘ (AF $766k SC $526k MID) neck injury and he said “not that I know of”.
Carlton coach David Teague was asked about Patrick Cripps (AF $582k SC $424k MID) who missed the game with soreness. He said: “I presume so. It was touch and go: on Thursday he was going to play but on Friday, he felt he couldn’t get the job done to the level he wanted to and he knew there were guys to come in and do that. We saw that with Kennedy stepping up and Dow and Fisher getting a bit more on-ball time. He should be right for next week.”
Teague also praised in-form Sam Walsh (AF $839k SC $654k MID). He said: “His work rate is never questioned, he works as hard as any player I’ve been involved with: that’s not just on game day, that’s throughout the week preparing himself from a recovery point of view and in training. He just wills his way and it’s his turn to own this football club along with his teammates and create what they want to create.”
North Melbourne v Essendon
Harrison Jones (AF $307k SC $262k FWD) has been ruled out of the game. Essendon’s update said: “Will miss the Bombers’ Round 18 match against North Melbourne with a foot injury. Jones reported soreness after training with the team on Friday, with initial scans today showing a stress reaction in his right foot.”
Rutten added after the game: “We’re going to wait on more information on Harry Jones’ foot injury in the next couple of days. We were keen to be pretty conservative in our decision to not play him. We’ll have a timeline soon.”
He also spoke about a few others, including Kyle Langford (AF $678k SC $468k M/F). Rutten said: “Shiel won’t be far off. Hopefully Langford maybe only misses one more. Caldwell is also starting to do more training as well. Hopefully we have more player availability in the next few weeks.”
Jack Mahony (AF $373k SC $282k M/F) was subbed off with an AC joint issue. North coach David Noble said he was “not sure how serious it was”. He also said Cam Zurhaar (AF $545k SC $438k FWD) was “sore”.
St Kilda v Port Adelaide
Tom Highmore (AF $406k SC $324k DEF) suffered a hand injury and may struggle to return this season. Saints coach Brett Ratten said: “He’s getting a scan on his hand, he might have a broken hand. He’ll probably stay back (in Victoria). He’ll get an operation if required.”
Daniel McKenzie (AF $445k SC $333k DEF) was subbed out with concussion and won’t travel to Perth for next round.
Port coach Ken Hinkley is hopeful that Zak Butters (AF $592k SC $454k M/F) will return from his knee injury early. “We hope (he’ll return). We don’t know,” Hinkley said. “Injuries are so hard to read now. We’d hope we’d have 2-3 blokes pushing for selection, Connor (Rozee), Zak. If it’s not next week, it’ll be the week after.”
Boyd Woodcock (AF $391k SC $241k FWD) was subbed off with a “nasty quad injury” but Hinkley said he “hope he’d be OK for next week”.
Melbourne v Hawthorn
Neither sub used their sub.
Gold Coast v Western Bulldogs
Brandon Ellis (AF $701k SC $489k MID) was subbed out with a hamstring injury. Suns coach Stuart Dew said:
“Just speaking to him, he’s always positive, he doesn’t think it’s too bad. He just felt it slightly when he went to change direction. It doesn’t appear to be significant but we’d expect him to miss some football.”
Jeremy Sharp (AF $329k SC $198k MID) also earned praise from Dew after a big game. He said: “We gave him a little taste last year. He’s put a lot of work in with Rhyce Shaw. He’s got unbelievable attributes for AFL.”
Top draft pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (AF $262k SC $207k FWD) impressed in his second game. Dogs coach Luke Beveridge said: “We thought Marra was instrumental in not just hitting the scoreboard, but providing that option and bringing it to ground on occasions.” The Dogs didn’t use their sub.
Richmond v Brisbane Lions
It is season over for Dustin Martin (AF $615k SC $471k M/F) who has a significant kidney injury. Richmond Club Doctor Greg Hickey: “Dustin stayed the night in hospital for observation and has been seen by a urologist this morning. He is feeling good and remains stable.
“Given the delicate nature of the injury and recovery timeline, he will not play football again this season.”
Kamdyn McIntosh (AF $480k SC $305k MID) was subbed out with an apparent hamstring injury, while Brisbane did not use their sub.
Fremantle v Geelong
Sean Darcy (AF $740k SC $648k F/R*) went down with a knee issue. Freo coach Justin Longmuir said: “Fingers are crossed it’s not serious, it looks like he’s done a bit of damage to his MCL. We’ll get it scanned tomorrow, but fingers crossed it’s not a serious injury.”
Freo’s executive general manager of football Peter Bell updated on Saturday morning on ABC Grandstand and said: “I’m pleased to report that Sean is a reasonably positive outcome. “He’s got a minor strain of the medial and also around the medial patella femoral area. Overall, what the means is that it’s actually a really stable knee, which is positive, and we’re quite confident that he’ll be available against Sydney.”
Nat Fyfe (AF $623k SC $483k M/F*) had some shoulder issues. Longmuir added: “He got through the game, he’s going to have those moments, we’ll just keep in constant dialogue with ‘Fyfey’ and make sure that we’re not putting him at further risk.”
Rory Lobb (AF $553 SC $416k F/R) was another big man to go down for Freo. Longmuir said: “He has an ankle injury, we will have to get it scanned as we are a bit unsure. He has some pain in his syndesmosis.” All this may impact Lloyd Meek (AF $245k SC $213k RUCK) selection.
Also Luke Valente (AF $170k SC $123k MID) wasn’t named in Freo’s reserves side (Peel Thunder) this weekend. Longmuir said: “He’s going to take a leave of absence from the club for a couple of weeks. He’s got some issues that he’s dealing with off the field and we’ll just give him some time and space for a couple of weeks.”
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