Kelly and Whitfield ticking boxes, Jones to debut for Dogs, Wardlaw impresses in VFL and Harvey praises Phillipou
With the news of Arthur Jones making his debut this Thursday, to go along with injury reports, there was a fair bit of news with updates on Josh Kelly, Lachie Whitfield, Mitch Duncan, Tom Stewart, Keidean Coleman, Wayne Milera, and plenty of others.
Updates
GWS Giants are expecting both Josh Kelly (AF $890k SC $582k MID) and Lachie Whitfield (AF $771k SC $474k MID) to be available this week after missing last week with concussion. GWS Head of Medical James Rahme said they expect both to be in the lineup against Carlton on Saturday as they have ticked off the boxes so far, but have just a couple more to tick off. “At this stage we expect both Josh and Lachie to be available for Saturday’s game. They’ve ticked off everything required of them in the protocols so far and are feeling good but still have a few final steps before they’re ready to line up on Saturday.”
Adam Kingsley also had a press conference today, and reiterated that he expects both Josh Kelly and Lachie Whitfield to play this week. With those two coming back Kingsley spoke about Harry Rowston (AF $261k SC $140k MID) and what his job security looks like going forward. “It’s hard to know. Selection wise we will go through that a little bit later on in the week with both hopefully Josh and Lachie coming back, but we will wait to get the green light on those guys before we start making some decisions around it,” Kingsley said. “I was pleased with their first games back, obviously Conor’s (Stone) played a few, Harry playing his first, I thought they played tough footy. So Harry got a good lesson first up that I’m sure he’ll grow and improve on for weeks to come,” Kingsley said.
Finn Callaghan (AF $460k SC $244k MID) also copped a knock to the shoulder against West Coast near the end of the first quarter, but Adam Kingsley said he is fine and will play this weekend. “Yeah he’s fine. Shoulder, it just felt like it was a bit of a stinger. He’s had some shoulder issues I believe in the past, but no issues at the moment, no,” Kingsley said.
The Western Bulldogs announced today that rookie Arthur Jones (AF $200k SC $124k FWD) will make his debut for the club against Brisbane at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night. Development coach Travis Varcoe told Jones in front of the playing group that he would be playing his first game this week, and Jones said he can’t wait for the opportunity on Thursday night after a slight groin injury delayed a round one debut. “I had a massive preseason and just before round one tweaked my groin, so to have a speedy recovery and have all the boys see the work I’ve put in – to finally get this one thing that I’ve wanted so bad, is kind of an emotional moment.”
In Geelong’s injury report, defenders Mitch Duncan (AF $820k SC $487k DEF) and Tom Stewart (AF $775k SC $604k DEF) are both tracking well in their recoveries, with Geelong GM of Football Simon Lloyd saying both will be available for selection in the coming weeks. “In regard to Mitch Duncan, Mitch is doing a huge amount of speed work, and he’s now in full training, so expect Mitch to be very close, he is not far away at all, which is exciting for all Cats fans. As for Tommy Stewart, if anything we’re having to pull the reins back on him, he’s tracking exactly as expected.”
North Melbourne’s pick 4 from last year’s draft, George Wardlaw (AF $294k SC $194k MID) had his first hitout for the club on the weekend in the VFL, and was impressive in the three quarters he played. North Melbourne head of performance Kevin White spoke to NMFC Media and said they were very happy with Wardlaw’s performance of the weekend. “George Wardlaw for his first hitout had to play three quarters of game time which was a good first step. We’ll look for the next couple of weeks now to progress and increase his game time now.”
St Kilda assistant and forward line coach Robert Harvey spoke to SEN today, and said he has been really impressed with young gun Mattaes Phillipou (AF $315k SC $167k M/F) and the start to his career, especially with the Saints dealing with multiple injuries to their key forwards. “He’s a very switched-on individual, but he’s got that respect that he knows he’s got stuff to work on, and that’s the really powerful thing when you got those two.”
Brisbane Lions defender Keidean Coleman (AF $672k SC $479k DEF) is available for Thursday night’s clash against the Western Bulldogs after missing last week due to concussion. Callum Ah Chee (AF $430k SC $293k MID) is also available for selection after playing VFL last week, with both Coleman and Ah Chee’s potential inclusions possibly affecting Darcy Wilmot (AF $257k SC $124k DEF) and Conor McKenna’s (AF $415k SC $ 168k DEF) selection for this week.
Adelaide defender Wayne Milera (AF $442k SC $321k FWD) is expected to be available this weekend after being a late withdrawal against Richmond due to a slight adductor strain. Adelaide High Performance Manager Darren Burgess gave an update on Milera ahead of this weekend. “Wayne didn’t quite get through captains run on Friday and was a really late call. He trained really well during the week but pulled out with a slight adductor strain, but he will be fine and complete all of training this week and be available this weekend.”
In Gold Coast’s injury report, Sean Lemmens (AF $469k SC $321k DEF) is available for selection, while Wil Powell (AF $530k SC $425k DEF) is also available after playing a half of football in the VFL last weekend. This could potentially impact the selection of Bodhi Uwland (AF $257k SC $124k D/M) and Charlie Constable (AF $422k SC $124k D/M).