Thursday’s team news has dropped with Touk Miller leading the ins while a bunch of rookies held their spot. North Melbourne have blooded a son-of-a-gun debutant plus there’s much more.
TEAM NEWS
Key ins: De Goey, Zorko, Kelly, Whitfield, Impey, T.Miller, Woewodin, C.Harvey
Key outs: Harrison, Dunkley (inj), Angwin, Visentini, Narkle, Chandler, Fyfe (inj)
Key holds: O’Donnell, Fletcher, Robertson, Chesser, Maric, J.Williams, E.Hewett, S.Mitchell, Weddle, Atkins, Windhager, M.Johnson, Cuningham, Fogarty, Ford, Wardlaw
Extended bench: Hobbs, Borlase, Sturt, Corey Wagner, Worner, Cincotta, Cowan, Mullin, Ziebell
Emergencies/possible subs: A.Jones, Lohmann, Mackenzie, Narkle, Peris, van Rooyen, Chandler,
Confirmed subs: Cole, Haynes
Absent: J.Cameron
There wasn’t much that was unexpected from Thursday teams except no Jeremy Cameron (AF $627k SC $395k FWD) for Geelong due to concussion protocols. On Cameron, Geelong said: “Cameron (concussion) has been ruled out medically for Sunday’s game, but got through training on Thursday and is expected to be available for next week’s clash.”
There was good news with a number of cheapies holding their spots including Jaspa Fletcher, Ryan Maric and Marcus Windhager. Touk Miller was a big inclusion for Gold Coast as flagged by coach Stuart Dew on Wednesday, while Lachie Whitfield’s return from suspension saw Nick Haynes dropped to sub, which is good for Harry Himmelberg’s role in defence.
Read our forward mid-pricers discussion about replacing Fyfe
Read who’ll likely get DPP additions after Round 17
DEBUTANT ALERT
Cooper Harvey (AF $200k SC $117k M/F) will debut for North, having been pick 56 (father-son) in the 2022 AFL Draft. He’s a 180cm forward, who booted five goals with 20 disposals in the VFL last round. He is averaging 13.4 disposals, 4.7 marks and 1.6 tackles per game in the VFL this year, with 20 goals in 11 games.
North interim coach Brett Ratten said: “He’s just forced his way into the team. Eight shots at goal (in the VFL), he came over to Adelaide as a carryover, he’s been close. He’s creative with the ball. He’s a goalkicker. That what we’ll see in the game.”
UPDATES
The long-running injury saga with Clayton Oliver (AF $990k SC $658k MID) just got worse, with Melbourne confirming he’ll miss another 3-4 weeks. Demons’ GM of AFL Performance Alan Richardson said: “Clayton has a complex hamstring injury, due to the fact that the injury is located where the muscle attaches to the tendon, and to further complicate that, there is injury to two separate hamstring muscles.
“There is no doubt that Clayton’s recovery has been complicated by the week he was required to spend immobile in hospital. What we have experienced so far is that Clayton can comfortably achieve 90 percent of his running capacity, but as we saw yesterday, he is unable to get to full speed to pass his minimum training markers. This suggests that, due to the discomfort Clayton felt during his run throughs, further recovery time is required. At this stage, we expect this will be three to four weeks.”
Essendon coach Brad Scott discussed the potential for Zach Merrett to be tagged by Ben Keays this weekend and what that may mean for his role.
Scott said: “Keays has played some important roles for the crows… The thing I know about Zach, is he’s such a team first player that it actually doesn’t concern me what the opposition does. We have so much variation and so many different options to play him in different parts of the ground.
“I’ve worked with Zach pretty closely on regardless of what happens in the game, he can have a big impact. There’s a number of examples this year where he’s done that for us. It’s not just accumulating the ball, there’s other things he can do.”
Scott also discussed potential debutants Elijah Tsatas and Patrick Voss after good VFL form. On Tsatas, he said: “He’s an exciting player. Even though he’s 18 and hasn’t played a AFL game yet, we think he’s going to add a different look and different dimension to our team. I’m really conscious as we have been with Nik Cox and those types, we want to get them into the team when they’re at their very best. Elijah has taken some great steps forward but with where we’re at we want to have him absolutely ready for AFL footy. But the last 2 weeks he’s taken some big steps forward.”
On Voss, Scott said: “He’s performed really well. He’s one of those plyers that’s in that zone where you’re too good for second tier and it’s a big step-up to the AFL. We’re pretty sure he’ll get his chance at some point. The challenge for Vossy is to keep performing really well, when his opportunity comes he ‘s got to be ready to grab it. We’re pleased with his progress and development.
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell indicated Jarman Impey (AF $755k SC $463k DEF) will return after missing last week with back soreness.
He said: “As long as he gets through training he’ll be fine (to play). He’s a really important player for us. I think his form has been really consistent. The other thing I love about Jars is it doesn’t matter how the team is playing, he’s always able to perform at a high level. His run, drive, carry and leadership is really important for us. We’ll certainly welcome him back.”
Mitchell added that Luke Breust will miss this game due to a bruised larynx, although it’ll likely only be a one-week absence, while Changkuoth Jiath was close to returning from injury and Denver Grainger-Barras would be considered as a forward option after four goals in the VFL.
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir discussed the timeframe for Nat Fyfe’s absence with a foot injury. He said: “I feel like this is something that we can deal with and it’s not going to be a long-term issue. We’ve had some success with some of his longer-term stuff and I feel like we’ve got over that hump and this is a minor setback.”
On replacing Fyfe, Longmuir admitted that Luke Jackson playing a midfield role was an option. He said: “It is absolutely (an option). We feel like he’s a good ground level player. We’ve put him in as a midfielder at times this year. That’s an option for sure.”
On Jackson’s hip injury which meant he didn’t play as second ruck last week, Longmuir added: “We’re hoping he’ll get through training and be able to be our second ruck this week. That’s where it sits at the moment… he’s clearly our best second ruck so we’re hoping he can jump off that leg and be as mobile as he needs to be.”
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said Brad Hill and Seb Ross are “probably going to play” after both tweaked their knees against West Coast, while Hunter Clark was in the mix to return after a medial knee issue. That may impact Marcus Windhager’s role and/or selection. Lyon added that Jack Peris, Jack Billings and Zac Jones were all in the mix.
Lyon also hinted at a potential impact on Rowan Marshall’s (AF $950k SC $559k RUC) role, with Josh Battle out with concussion. He said: “Battle won’t play, so does Sharman stay down back, do you bring in a Highmore or Cordy? Do we play two rucks with Tom Campbell? They’re the things we’re trying to work through.”
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge confirmed Ed Richards will return from injury, which may impact the role of Caleb Daniel (AF $880k SC $609k D/F).
Beveridge said: “He, with Ed coming back in, will have some flexibility (in his role). We don’t anticipate we’ll have too much change to our side, so you’ll probably find him at different stages running through our midfield. He really didn’t do that last week.”
The Dogs coach also spoke about the form and role of Bailey Smith. He said: “Establishing that consistency again with Baz, he’s had some interruption over the last two years. When we’re picking the side, at different times, bailey has found himself out of the pecking order of inside midfielders but he’s still playing through there.”
West Coast coach Adam Simpson revealed Luke Shuey and Shannon Hurn will both be rested this weekend for their game against Brisbane. Simpson added that Tim Kelly will play after illness last week, while Jeremy McGovern will return from a long-term injury. Tom Cole will also return from injury as sub.
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks flagged James Borlase (AF $200k SC $123k DEF) or Mark Keane (AF $304k SC $150k DEF) as replacements for Jordon Butts who’ll miss due to concussion protocols.
