Tim English has officially been ruled out for Round 16 while the Western Bulldogs will unleash a debutant, plus there’s updates involving rucks Rowan Marshall, Callum Jamieson and Nic Naitanui.
DEBUTANT ALERT
The Western Bulldogs have confirmed 19-year-old 191cm medium forward Dom Bedendo (AF $190k SC $123k FWD) will debut in Round 16. Bedendo was pick 55 in the 2020 AFL Draft and had 21 disposals, four tackles and kicked one goal in the VFL on the weekend.
UPDATES
The Western Bulldogs have ruled out Tim English (AF $884k SC $605k F/R) for Thursday night’s game against the Brisbane Lions with concussion despite coming out of protocols on Thursday morning.
Dogs coach Luke Beveridge said in the morning: “We will probably give him another week (to recover). He is training now and seems to be fine. Hopefully he’ll be available for the Sydney game.”
The club’s Head of Sports Medicine Chris Bell said: “Tim has turned the corner in the last few days and is progressing back towards full training… Not wanting to take risks, Tim won’t play this weekend, but we expect that he will make his return soon after.”
The AFL Tribunal has banned Tom Stewart (AF $815k SC $562k DEF) for four weeks for Rough Conduct, with the bump on Dion Prestia assessed as Careless Conduct, Severe Impact and High Contact.
Nic Naitanui (AF $620k SC $586k RUC) appears set to return for West Coast after a knee injury which may force Callum Jamieson (AF $318k SC $221k RUC) out of the side. Eagles coach Adam Simpson told 7NewsPerth: “He’s available this week and if he gets through the training block he’ll play.”
Saints coach Brett Ratten indicated Paddy Ryder (AF $526k SC $370k RUC) will likely return after being managed which will likely impact fellow ruckman Rowan Marshall’s (AF $657k SC $428k RUC) role and scoring potential.
