Hugh Dixon and Marcus Windhager were both left out of their sides’ final 22s for Round 8, while the uncertainty on George Hewett lingers following an update from Carlton coach Michael Voss who praised Jack Carroll.
DEBUTANT ALERT
West Coast confirmed top-up player Jake Florenca will debut, having been in good form in the WAFL. He had 28 disposals with eight tackles, six marks and two goals for South Fremantle in the WAFL last weekend
SUNDAY TEAMS + LIONS/EAGLES TEAMS
Key ins: L.Jackson, Marshall, Z.Jones, Z.Williams, Hinge, Florenca
Key outs: Bedford, Windhager, M.Crouch, Dixon, Strnadica (ill), Witherden (H&S), Clark (H&S)
Key holds: Durdin, Carroll, Rachelem
Possible subs/emergencies: Bedford, Laurie, Windhager, J.Motlop, Soligo, Dixon
Hugh Dixon (AF $353k SC $246k F/R) was a surprise demotion from the West Coast but could still be the medi-sub having been named among the emergencies.
UPDATES
The big news of the day was the uncertainty on the George Hewett’s (AF $758k SC $536k D/M) corked calf amid rumours he may be out until Round 10.
Carlton coach Michael Voss explained: “The call was made pretty early that we’d take another week with that. It bled a little bit more than we’d like and it’s been slower in its progress. As far as his return goes, we’ll assess it next week and make a call from there.
“He hasn’t come up for this weekend, I was pretty confident. What we do on the back of that is see how he progresses over the weekend. He’d want train both times next week before we consider him.”
Meanwhile, Voss praised youngster Jack Carroll (AF $234k SC $123k MID). He said: “We saw young Jack Carroll come in & have a really impressive performance. He didn’t play a heap of midtime but got a little look in there. Deserved his spot and gets another chance.”
Richmond confirmed defender Nick Vlastuin (AF $729k SC $503k DEF) will miss tomorrow’s game against Collingwood due to illness, along with Dion Prestia.
One we missed on Thursday, was West Coast stand-in coach Matthew Knights clarifying Brady Hough’s (AF $273k SC $147k MID) status. Knights said: “Brady Hough has just got a slight back injury at the moment… We like what we see, we’ve just got to get him healthy.”
The Eagles and Brisbane Lions will confirm their squads for Saturday night’s game at 5:30pm AEST/3:30pm WST on Friday.
