Rory Laird offered an update on his own fitness amid his calf tightness concern, while Luke Davies-Uniacke was a surprise withdrawal for North Melbourne due to a heel injury.
SUNDAY TEAMS
Key ins: Merrett, Soldo, Adams
Key outs: Davey, Menzie (mng), Guthrie (inj), J.Clarke, Miller (inj), Pendlebury (inj)
Key holds: Bowes, Milera, Laird
Possible subs/emergencies: Davey, Menzie, Bruhn, Bauer, Harrison
Alwyn Davey has been omitted by Essendon but named as one of four emergencies, thus possibly a sub. Adelaide named up Rory Laird as per Thursday teams, but he’s set for a test at Saturday’s captain’s run.
UPDATES
Rory Laird (AF $918k SC $634k MID) spoke to 9NewsAdelaide about his calf issue, stating he was optimistic about being available to face Collingwood on Sunday. He said: “It’s alright, I should be sweet… Nothing like that (scans), I think I’ll just train and see how it goes.”
North midfielder Luke Davies-Uniacke (AF $824k SC $560k MID) will miss Round 7 due to a heel injury. North said in an update on Friday morning: “Luke Davies-Uniacke won’t take the field on Saturday night due to a heel injury and has been replaced by Darcy Tucker in the starting team.”
Popular pre-season pick and 2022 Rookie Draft top selection Blake Drury (AF $200k SC $102k M/F) comes into North’s four emergencies, so he’s in contention to be sub.
Collingwood confirmed Scott Pendlebury (AF $743k SC $534k MID) will miss Sunday’s game with Adelaide after a poke in the eye on Anzac Day. Pies coach Craig McRae said: “Pendles is going to be out, we named him in our squad. He won’t play. He got a bit of a poke in the eye which I think most of you have seen. He’s not quite right at the moment so we’ve just made a decision to look after him.”
Steele Sidebottom (AF$692k SC $466k MID) missed training on Friday due to the flu but McRae was confident he’d be fine to play.
Dogs coach Luke Beveridge confirmed Bailey Smith (AF $852k SC $503k M/F) will return after two weeks out with a calf issue. He said: “After an interrupted last couple of weeks, you wouldn’t say he’s going to be setting any records with the ground that covers but he’s such an important player to us. There isn’t any risk, he’s fine.”
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin clarified that Max Gawn (AF $798k SC $568k RUC) had pulled up well from his return game after several weeks out. He said: “He’s pretty with how he played. He pulled up well. His gametime was down a little bit on the weekend just to manage him a little bit. He’s in really good touch from a performance perspective. Physically he’s pulled up fantastic. I think it’s a credit to our rehab staff to have four weeks out and come out of the game feeling pretty fresh.”
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick revealed potential debutant Jacob Bauer (AF $200k SC $123k FWD) is unlikely to make their final 22 for Round 7. He said: “He’s close. We’ve been trying him down back (in the VFL). We’ve been impressed with what he’s offered there. He’s in the squad this week, it’s probably not this week. He’s really improved.”
Essendon confirmed key defender Jayden Laverde (AF $563k SC $370k DEF) required surgery on his shoulder injury and will miss 5-6 weeks which may cause a re-shuffle with no obvious direct replacement in this week’s ins. Will Setterfield (AF $821k SC $444k MID) went down back after Laverde went down mid-game against Collingwood.
