Rory Laird is in doubt for Sunday’s game with Collingwood due to calf tightness, while the Thursday team news dropped with some big names returning including a surprise recall for Sam Docherty alongside Adam Saad.
TEAM NEWS
Key ins: Green, B.Smith, Day, Ramsden, Weddle, Docherty, Saad, Merrett, Soldo
Key outs: Wagner, Gould, Rowston, McLean, Mackenzie, N.Long, W.Phillips, Cowan (mng), Guthrie (inj), Miller (inj)
Key holds: Phillipou, D.Williams, Lord, Wilmot, M.Johnson, Sturt, Angwin, A.Jones, S.Mitchell, Chandler, van Rooyen, Ginbey, Hollands, Cincotta, Laird
Extended bench: Davey, Bruhn, Bowes, Bauer, Harrison
Possible subs: Bytel, Wagner, Gould, Corey Warner, Fahey, Rowston, McLean, Mackenzie, W.Phillips, Cowan, Kennedy
Some key names returned included Sam Docherty (AF $924k SC $525k DEF) well ahead of schedule plus Blues half-back teammate Adam Saad, yet Alex Cincotta holds his spot in a positive sign but Lachie Cowan is managed. Other big names to return are Tom Green, Will Day and Zach Merrett from suspension.
On Docherty, Carlton said in an update: “After being injured three weeks ago, Docherty has trained fully all week and is ready to take on the Eagles this Saturday.”
There’s some rookie carnage beyond Cowan, with Corey Wagner dropped by Freo and reportedly not among the 24 players on the flight to Brisbane. Cam Mackenzie, Harry Rowston and Will Phillips have all dropped out of their side’s 22s but are named as emergencies/possible subs.
DEBUTANT ALERTS
Hawthorn named two debutants this round, with Josh Weddle (AF $266k SC $130k DEF) coming in, after being pick 18 in the 2022 AFL Draft. He is an athletic 192cm defender who had 27 disposals in the VFL last weekend. He’s averaging 20 disposals, 6.66 marks and 2.33 tackles per game this VFL season.
Max Ramsden (AF $200k SC $123k F/R) is the other, and he went pick 6 in the 2022 Midseason Draft and is a 203cm ruck who has been playing forward in the VFL. Ramsden booted 8 goals in his past 3 VFL games, averaging 11.25 disposals, 4.75 marks & 9 hitouts across 4 VFL games this year.
UPDATES
Rory Laird (AF $918k SC $634k MID) is in doubt for the final game in Round 7 against Collingwood on Sunday after leaving the training track early on Thursday with a calf worry, unrelated to the knee knock he picked up on Sunday.
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks said: “Yeah he did (leave the track early). Bit of tightness in his calf. There was no risk taken with that one for today. We’ll just assess that over the next 24 hours. Probably there won’t be a decision around that until captain’s run. If there’s any tightness, we just won’t risk it, we just won’t take a risk with the session. He seemed in pretty good spirits when he was heading off but we’ll have to wait and see how that one pulls up.”
Upon the team announcement later on Thursday, Adelaide Head of Football Adam Kelly added: “There was no risk taken today and we will assess this over the next 24 hours with a decision around his availability being delayed until Captain’s Run on Saturday.”
Nicks was also asked about utilizing Ben Keays in a tagging role on Nick Daicos. He said: “I’ve watched Nick play and he’s an outstanding player. The less he has the ball in his hands, the better for us, because he’s so good with the footy, but it’s not easy to do. We’ll definitely put some work into Nick.”
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell flagged a potential debut for popular pre-season pick Josh Weddle (AF $266k SC $130k DEF) who had 27 disposals in the VFL last weekend. Mitchell said: “He’s close. Two weeks ago I had a chat with him and said ‘I think you’re AFL ready now. It doesn’t mean you’re going to play this week but you’ve got to this point where if a spot comes up, we’d be more than happy to play you’… He deserves a game, but there’s a lot of variables in that. We’ve probably got 5-7 guys who are playing AFL footy at VFL level and he’s right in the mix. Depending on how we want to structure the team this week, he could potentially come in.”
Mitchell confirmed Mitch Lewis will come straight back in after a knee injury, which will put pressure on spots.
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson clarified that 2022 AFL Draft pick four George Wardlaw will not debut this week despite some hype. He said: “He is getting closer but as I’ve said countless times, we just need to set him up to have the best chance to perform when he gets in there. I think he probably needs another couple. This week probably not quite there yet… He’s been patient, he’s making some really good progress. He played some pretty good last week in the twos against Gold Coast but our view is he just needs a little bit more match condition.”
Clarkson also said Jy Simpkin will need to train to prove his fitness after hand surgery, while he discussed Harry Sheezel handling a tag. On Sheezel, Clarkson said: “That’s part of the process. Holman went to him at different stages, it wasn’t a strong lockdown. If he does get attention, it’s going to happen from time to time. Sheez has started the season well, regularly getting 25-30 touches and that’s now back to us and Sheez to work out how we best deal with that. That’ll be a week-to-week thing.”
Port Adelaide assistant coach Nathan Bassett spoke to the media, with Ken Hinkley absent, talking up newcomer Dylan Williams’ backline role. He said: “We thought he’d go reasonably well (in defence). He finished the well last year and had a really good off-season where he showed his running levels to could get to a place where he’d compete at AFL level. He’s been calm and composed with the footy, he works well within the defence, he communicates well with the other guys and he’s certainly reliable. He’s had a good start to his AFL career as a defender.”
Bassett said Port would take a 25-man squad to Melbourne including Charlie Dixon which may impact Ollie Lord’s job security or role. Brynn Teakle will lead the ruck again, with Scott Lycett to miss out.
On Lycett, Bassett said: “Scott is working on his footy and trying to improve, playing SANFL on Sunday. (Working) on all parts of his game, whether it be ruckwork or follow-up or what he does around the ground. He missed a big chunk of footy last year. He’s had a couple of good contests this year and a couple where he hasn’t performed at the level we would like.”
West Coast put out their injury report, with rookie Noah Long listed as 2-3 weeks with a hamstring injury. Eagles Head of Health Mark Finucane said: “Noah has taken a little while for the hamstring to settle down, but he’s now comfortable and running strongly. We won’t take any risks with our first-year players and he will take the time to progress through a fully program.”
St Kilda confirmed popular pre-season pick Nick Coffield had suffered another setback in his return to play from an ACL injury, having re-injured his calf.
