There was a big injury cloud hovering around Zak Butters (AF $850k SC $552k M/F) who underwent scans on Tuesday morning on the troublesome groin that forced him to sit out the last quarter of Saturday’s loss to Carlton. Port play Collingwood in Round 19 on Saturday.
Butters told 7News in the morning: “Bit of soreness in the groin. Didn’t want to take any risks. Big game this weekend so hopefully get it right for that… we’ll wait and see what the scan says but I’m pretty confident.”
But Port assistant coach Josh Carr confirmed he’ll be available in the afternoon after the scan results had landed. He said: “Buttsy, he’ll be fine. He’ll be playing this weekend… Scans were all clear. He’ll be right. He’s obviously had a really good year. He was hampered in that second half on the weekend, he’s important to us.”
Josh Dunkley (AF $985k SC $685k M/F) has been declared available for Brisbane’s Round 19 game against Geelong following two weeks out with a calf issue.
The Lions said in their injury report on Tuesday: “Brisbane Lions midfielder Josh Dunkley is available for selection ahead of Saturday’s Round 19 clash with Geelong at The Gabba. Dunkley, who missed the last two games with a calf strain, trained on Tuesday morning and was given the all-clear by the Club’s medical staff.”
GWS confirmed Tom Green will likely miss another two games with his hamstring injury. The Giants said in their injury report on Tuesday: “Midfield bull Tom Green is expected to miss another fortnight after sustaining a low-grade hamstring at training last week. The star GIANT is expected to miss the next two matches against the Suns and the Western Bulldogs.”
Finn Callaghan is listed as a test following a hip flexor issue that kept him out last round.
Adelaide assistant coach James Rahilly was hopeful on Rory Laird’s (AF $933k SC $620k MID) availability for next round after a shoulder knock. On how Laird pulled up, Rahilly said: “I think OK. He played the game out after he hurt it. I don’t know if he’s getting scans or not. He looks pretty confident that he’ll be right.” Laird wasn’t listed in Adelaide’s injury report on Tuesday is a good sign.
George Wardlaw (AF $492k SC $296k MID) will “miss up to a month” due to a hamstring strain as revealed in the North Melbourne injury report.
North head of performance Kevin White said: “Scans revealed a standard hamstring strain yesterday, (but) he’s testing really well clinically, and he finished a lower-leg session in the gym this morning (Tuesday). He’s pretty upbeat, but we’ll take a conservative approach and extend him out to that three-to-four-week (recovery) timeline.” Jy Simpkin will miss another game in Round 19 due to concussion.
Geelong’s injury report flagged a few knocks for Jeremy Cameron but noted he was fine. Cats Footy GM Simon Lloyd said: “Sometimes you just have games where you just keep getting knocked around, and bumped and bruised.
“Jezza copped one early – just above his knee – copped a cork and tried to work through that initially. And then he came off with the blood rule as well …. but the good thing about (the game) was he worked himself into the game and finished with that long goal down the city end, which was exciting.”
St Kilda flagged Jack Higgins will face a fitness test to return from this week from a knee complaint which may impact Jack Peris’ job security.
Sydney ruled out Angus Sheldrick for the remainder of the season with syndesmosis in their injury report, while noting Chad Warner is a test to return from a calf injury.
Hawthorn updated that Fergus Greene is a test after a knee knock. Hawks High Performance Manager Peter Burge said: “He was back outside and doing some straight-line running today (Tuesday), we’ll assess him at training on Thursday and have a further update then.”
The Gold Coast Suns ruled out Lachie Weller (AF $694k SC $433k DEF) for the remainder of the 2023 AFL season due to an ACL injury, which may impact the job security and roles of a few others like Rory Atkins.
Essendon coach Brad Scott indicated Jayden Laverde was likely to be available after an ankle knock last round, while he was asked about selecting rookie Elijah Tsatas following good VFL form. He said: “We’re at the stage with our team where we’ve got a lot of players who are pushing for selection. It’s a challenge. We’ve got selection headaches.
“Elijah is playing some good footy but we take the view when players come in to play AFL footy, they’ve got to be ready for it. Elijah has got some attributes that are AFL ready but we want to make sure he’s got the complete balance. It’s very tempting to bring him into the squad but we’ve just got to be really diligent in making sure he’s well prepared for it. but he’s not far off.”
Read about the players who impressed in the VFL, WAFL and SANFL over the weekend, including Brodie Grundy’s push for a recall. Read here.
Find out all the Round 18 role changes with our analysis. Read here
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