We’ve got the early mail ahead of Wednesday’s Richmond-Carlton team news, while St Kilda all but confirmed two debutants for Round 1 plus updates from a raft of coach press conferences.
TEAM NEWS
There was nothing overly surprising from the Richmond-Carlton teams with Alex Cincotta (AF $200k SC $102k D/M) confirmed out as expected, having not had a debut announcement earlier this week when Lachie Cowan (AF $242k SC $117k DEF) and Oliver Hollands (AF $280k SC $162k MID) were confirmed in.
On confirmed Blues debutants, Carlton coach Michael Voss said: “Ollie has mostly played wing, Lach has been playing back, he’ll need guidance but we’re pretty confident around the body of work they’ve done. Over the past few weeks it’s obvious they’ve begun to stand out.”
Earlier in the day, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick indicated 2022 rookie draftee Tylar Young (AF $200k SC $102k DEF) wouldn’t debut but said he’s close. He said: “Probably not this week. He’s very, very close. We’ve been real impressed with this kid. He’s been in our system five minutes but he’s taken us by storm. I’ve got no doubt you’ll see him in the coming weeks.”
Samson Ryan (AF $200k SC $123k F/R) also isn’t far away having been named as an emergency. Hardwick said: “At this stage, it’ll be a pretty stock standard Richmond side. We’ve got some young players that we’re looking forward to blooding. Samson Ryan we thought has had an incredible pre-season.”
DEBUTANT ALERTS
Essendon confirmed a debut for Alwyn Davey (AF $212k SC $117k M/F) who was pick 45 (father/son) in the 2022 AFL Draft. He is a 180cm forward who scored 58/67 (AF/SC) points from 13 disposals, three tackles and a goal in the pre-season game against St Kilda and averaged 16 disposals in the NAB League last year.
Melbourne confirmed two debutants with Judd McVee (AF $200k SC $123k D/M) and Bailey Laurie (AF $200k SC $123k M/F) to play first up against the Western Bulldogs.
McVee went pick 18 in the 2021 Rookie Draft and is a 185cm defender who scored only 10/23 (AF/SC) points from four disposals in 81% TOG in last week’s pre-season game against Richmond. He averaged 11.4 disposals and 2.7 marks in the VFL last year.
Laurie went pick 22 in the 2020 AFL Draft, averaging 16.2 disposals, 2.5 marks and 3.7 tackles in the VFL last year. He scored 14/17 (AF/SC) points from six disposals and one tackle in 56% TOG in last week’s pre-season game against the Tigers.
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon all but confirmed debuts for with Mattaes Phillipou (AF $282k SC $166k M/F) and Anthony Caminiti (AF $200k SC $102k FWD) against Fremantle on Sunday.
Lyon said: “It’s likely we’ll have Phillipou and Caminiti as debutants but in saying that I’ve learned no closed ended statements. We have to get through today’s session and Friday’s & hopefully they get to the line. It’s looking likely. Caminiti’s come from the clouds. You see his basics, he’s been delivering consistently.”
In terms of Caminiti’s stay in the side, Lyon indicated fellow key forward Tim Membrey (AF $638k SC $417k FWD) may not return until Round 4-5-6.
UPDATES
The Saints coach also hinted Tom Campbell (AF $448k SC $302k R/F) could play in Round 1, potentially impacting the role of Rowan Marshall (AF $808k SC $506k RUC). Lyon said: “He dropped 5 kgs, was training really well. I expect him to play senior footy (this year). It’s not outside the realms of possibility (for Round 1) when you think of Jackson and Darcy.”
Lyon also said Marcus Windhager (AF $448k SC $266k M/F) was still firmly in the mix after a broken hand, with a view to training fully on Friday, meaning he could still tag someone like Andy Brayshaw (AF $995k SC $615k MID).
West Coast have confirmed Elliot Yeo (AF $625k SC $337k DEF) will miss Round 1 with a calf issue. Eagles Footy GM Gavin Bell said: “While it is disappointing for Elliot and the club that he won’t play against North Melbourne, we are taking a no-risk approach with a full season ahead of him.
“As our senior coach Adam Simpson has mentioned previously, it is not unexpected that some players returning from long-term injury issues could face some hurdles on their paths back to playing regular senior football. Encouragingly, Elliot has enjoyed an excellent pre-season to this point. We are optimistic this is only a minor speed bump and expect he will be back in action soon.”
Carlton also offered an update on Sam Walsh (AF $916k SC $610k MID) in their injury report, stating his “return to play timeline is likely to become clearer around Round 4”, which may impact Sam Docherty (AF $977k SC $603k DEF) in the meantime with a view to scoring and possible DPP status, or be relevant for Draft coaches who snapped him up.
Ben King (AF $316k SC $176k FWD) looks set to be named for Round 1 despite limited TOG in pre-season. Suns coach Stuart Dew said: “He’s played a fair bit of match play. We mapped this out from a long way back. I think his general time on ground is somewhere between 80 and 100 minutes and he’s going to be able to deliver that.”
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin spoke about the ruck split for Brodie Grundy (AF $830k SC $512k RUC) and Max Gawn (AF $914k SC $622k RUC).
He said: “It’s going to be different from week to week. They are different ruckman and have a different skill-set. It will depend what the game needs at any one time … and it will evolve over time. We will trial some things but so far we like what we see and they’re building a great combination and we will go into most games thinking it’s going to be a 50-50 split and assess on the day.”
Fremantle offered an update on popular pre-season pick Corey Wagner (AF $285k SC $117k D/M) who suffered a hamstring injury last month. Freo Executive General Manager of Football Peter Bell said: “He’s up for some minutes this weekend so he’ll be really excited about turning out for Peel.”
Bell also declared Luke Ryan (AF $756k SC $531k DEF) would be available for selection for Sunday’s game against St Kilda, pending getting through Thursday training after a back issue.
Sydney offered an update on Jacob Konstanty (AF $262k SC $121k FWD) who was a potential Round 1 debutant before a shin injury. Head of Physiotheraphy and Medical Services Damian Raper said: “Jacob is currently running and building volume and agility in his rehabilitation from shin soreness. He will look to return to skills in the next fortnight.”
Finally, North put out their injury report with Tarryn Thomas (AF $475k SC $295k M/F) cleared of any major concern after an “minor ankle sprain” in the VFL practice game although he remains out of the selection frame for AFL for now. North Head of Performance Kevin White said: “He looks set to join main training on Thursday and will progress his return to football conditioning through the VFL this weekend.”
Catch up with Tuesday’s latest selection news here
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