George Hewett hasn’t made a miraculous Round 23 return for Carlton although he is among the emergencies, while Hawthorn confirmed two debutants and Tom Campbell returned to impact Rowan Marshall.
TEAM NEWS
Key ins: Cerra, De Goey, Saunders, Long, M.Lynch, T.Campbell
Key outs: Carmichael, J.Serong, S.Martin
Key absentees: Hewett
Emergencies/possible subs: Hewett, Carmichael, J.Serong, McComb, Gould
George Hewett (AF $766k SC $536k D/M) has not made the final Carlton 22 having tried to return from a back issue.
Blues coach Michael Voss had said on Friday morning: “I won’t confirm that (Hewett playing) for you. We’ve got a wait for a bit later before we get those confirmations. He’s progressed alright. He’s increased his training loads but it’s also how he pulls up. We’ve got to be mindful of that. We’ve still got some things he needs to go through today before we have our final confirmation.”
DEBUTANT ALERTS
Jack Saunders (AF $190k SC $123k FWD) will debut for the Hawks. He went pick 4 in the 2020 Rookie Draft and is a 180cm medium forward, who had 24 disposals, 11 marks and one goal in VFL last weekend
Ned Long (AF $190k SC $102k M/F) will also debut for Hawthorn. He was pick 5 in the 2021 Rookie Draft. He has averaged 14.3 disposals, 3.7 marks and 1.2 tackles per game in the VFL this year.
UPDATES
Collingwood coach Craig McRae declared Jordan De Goey (AF $605k SC $403k M/F) fit to play after a hip injury during his Friday press conference.
McRae said: “Jordy’s actions suggest that his top speed running and agility is there, right now he’s declared himself fit.”
