The roles of Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy were discussed, along with the returning Clayton Oliver, plus there were updates on Hayden Young’s midfield role and Luke Jackson’s form, plus the Sunday teams.
SUNDAY TEAMS
Key ins: Fahey, McMullin, D.Martin
Key outs: S.Mitchell, Visentini (inj), Angwin (ill), Banks
Key holds: B.Ryan, Macrae, Daniel, Coulthard, Bauer
Possible subs: S.Mitchell, O.Baker, Narkle, F.Evans, S.Ryan, Banks
Dante Visentini (AF $237k SC $135k F/R) was withdrawn from Port’s named 22 from Thursday “after experiencing quad tightness at training”.
Seamus Mitchell is the other relevant rookie who has lost his spot in Hawthorn’s 22 but may still be sub.
DEBUTANT ALERT
GWS confirmed 18-year-old Toby McMullin (AF $234k SC $117k FWD) will make his debut for the club. He was pick 34 in the 2022 AFL Draft and is a 183cm pressure forward/midfielder, who is averaging 12.8 disposals, 2.3 marks and 2.8 tackles across 14 VFL games with 10 goals.
UPDATES
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin declined to give much away on his plans for splitting ruck duties between Max Gawn and the returning Brodie Grundy at Friday’s press conference.
Grundy was named in the Dees’ 22 on Thursday to play Carlton after several weeks out of the side, during which Gawn has excelled. Goodwin said: “It’s obviously a month out of the team. He’s been working incredibly hard on his ability to play forward of the game. We get a chance to have a look at it. Sometimes injury creates opportunity.
When pressed on Grundy’s role, he said: “In terms of the strategy of how we’re going to use Max and Brodie, we’re not going into that today. There’s clearly going to be times when he’s forward of the ball and times when he’s in the ruck… We’ve got a plan heading into the game but that may change in game.”
Clayton Oliver was also named to return after almost three months with a hamstring injury, with Goodwin confident in his ability to impact immediately after a few false starts.
He said: “He is (raring to go). If anyone knows Clayton and his competitive nature, he just loves the game. He loves competing. He’s done a big block of work. He’s been pretty much at 90% for 5-6 weeks and got a heap of fitness into him. He’s been full training for the last couple of weeks. He’s raring to go. He’s going to be fit, strong and fresh. Hopefully he has a big impact for our team.”
Angus Brayshaw has spent time in midfield during Oliver’s absence but Goodwin was equally cagey on his role, along with their midfield make-up. He said: “I’m not going to give away our strategy heading into the game. Angus has been in fantastic form and will continue to be.”
Carlton coach Michael Voss noted that Adam Cerra and Mitch McGovern weren’t far off returns from injuries, although Sam Walsh is a bit further down the line with his hamstring problem.
When asked directly about Cerra and McGovern for Round 23, Voss said: “Possibly. They’re all tracking at the moment as planned. But there’s a couple that have still got to reach some milestones. We’ll probably give a better update come Monday than now.”
Dante Visentini is also set to miss Port Adelaide’s clash with GWS Giants due to injury, with Sam Hayes to replace him in the Power’s 22 when the Sunday teams are made official at 5pm AEST.
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir confirmed Hayden Young will not play a tagging role in midfield in Saturday night’s Western Derby. He said: “With Hughesy (Ethan Hughes) going out of the team, we’ll have to put him down back.”
Longmuir also discussed the impressive form of ruckman Luke Jackson in Sean Darcy’s absence. He said: “His work at ground level is elite. I’ve been saying that all year. That’ll continue to improve. He is an extra midfielder at ground level, and his ability to hunt the footy, hunt the man adds a different dynamic to his game and our midfield. He’s a pretty instinctive player and that allows him to just trust himself and play whatever’s in front of him. I’ve been really pleased with his form.”
