Stay up to date throughout Round 1 with our rolling injury report from the coaches post-game. With the nine-game round extending from Thursday night through until Sunday, these snippets of info will be key.
Carlton v Richmond
Well-owned Tigers young defender Josh Gibcus was stretchered off. Tigers GM of Football Performance Tim Livingstone told 7AFL: “At the moment, it’s a suspected ACL. We’ll get an MRI tomorrow. Poor kid deserves a break. He’s praying for it but it doesn’t look good.” Richmond have since confirmed it is an ACL injury for Gibcus which will end his season.
Richmond also lost Dion Prestia to a hamstring injury and Tylar Young to concussion. Tigers coach Adem Yze said Tom Lynch was meant to play managed minutes but remained on longer in the fourth quarter due to their injuries.
Carlton coach Michael Voss explained the decision to sub out Orazio Fantasia. He said: “We had Durds there as well. We wanted to liven up the front half of the ground. We went with like for like.”
Voss also was asked if the club was considering back surgery for Sam Walsh, but replied bluntly: “No.” He added: “Like we’ve maintained throughout his program, we’ll update everyone when we get to next week.”
Voss said Jacob Weitering was “progressing well” for a Round 3-4 return, while Caleb Marchbank was “doing very well” having returned to full training.
Collingwood v Sydney
Sydney coach John Longmire was asked about the role of Isaac Heeney after scoring 125/136 (AF/SC) from 18 CBAs. When asked if he’d persist with Heeney in the midfield all year, Longmire said: “It’s pretty hard after two games to plan anything for a season. I’m reluctant to make close-ended statements.
“It’s worked for the last couple of weeks. It’s been super, he’s been terrific. He’s been really important when we’ve had so much experience out of our team. We’ll play him where we need him. We’re two games in, if we need him forward, we’ll play him forward. At the moment he’s going really well in midfield. I just think he’ll play both roles.
“He trained the whole pre-season there (midfield). But he’s done that a couple of times now. He’s clearly in there a bit more now.”
Collingwood coach Craig McRae said Tom Mitchell’s absence was due to managing an ankle issue and they would “get it right”.
McRae highlighted Fin Macrae’s impact as sub. He said: “I liked what I saw. I think everyone would’ve liked what they saw. We’ve got to find players who are hungry to take us to our next levels.”
Essendon v Hawthorn
Bombers coach Brad Scott said the hamstring injury that saw Zach Reid subbed out was minor. Scott said: “What we do know is that he came up with a tight hamstring… it’s a tight hamstring, but is it a torn hamstring? No. There may be some very minor damage, but if there’s damage it’s minor.
“I think ‘Reidy’s’ injury history is pretty well documented, so in the end you have to take it out of their hands. We’re just going to sub him and take a cautious approach and hopefully he’s okay. But if he’s not, he’s building a really solid bank of resilience.”
Scott also praised the impact of Archie Perkins – comparing him to Sydney’s Isaac Heeney – after he had 27 CBAs in the absence of Darcy Parish. He said: “Perk has got a fair way to go to replicate what Isaac is doing but he’s a similar type, in terms of we really like him forward, but we really like him in the midfield too.”
Hawks coach Sam Mitchell hailed the performance of Dylan Moore who kicked 3 goals after a tough pre-season where he had glandular fever. Moore had a strong impact, even with only 78% TOG. He said: “I’m really proud of him, he kicks three straight, and his work rate is enormous.
“We kept his game time down a little bit today, but I think when it came to this week, I just knew that he would make the right decision whether or not he could play. You know, medically they’re not sure, you can’t test for glandular fever really, and how recovered they are, so we really had to trust him, and I was really proud that he was able to put in such a strong performance.”
Mitchell said Jack Ginnivan was fine despite being subbed out.
James Sicily was offered a one-game suspension by the AFL’s MRO for kicking Andrew McGrath, deemed as intentional conduct, medium impact and body contact.
Mason Redman was offered a one-game ban by the AFL’s MRO for striking Jai Newcombe, deemed as intentional conduct, low impact and high contact.
GWS Giants v North Melbourne
GWS coach Adam Kingsley heaped praise on Tom Green, who had 37 disposals and 9 tackles. He said: “I thought he competed really strongly. He was one of those centre bounce guys who were under siege with the clearances against, but he was fighting. He gets the ball a lot. I think his impact around stoppage is significant but I think he’s added the transition element to his game. His ability to link up our play, to create opportunities for us offensively in general play is really strong. He’s doing a great job.”
Kingsley noted Keiren Briggs’ down game. He said: “He’s still learning. He’s not beating everyone every week. I thought their ruckman was really good.” The GWS coach added that Finn Callaghan’s late concern was just cramp.
North coach Alastair Clarkson said Josh Goater had ruptured his left Achilles, ending his 2024 season.
Clarkson offered some praise to debutants Zane Duursma and Colby McKercher. He said: “They made some contributions to the side today. They’re on a long journey with us. They’re going to be much better when they get more exposure to the level and bigger bodies. We’re pleased they’re on their way with their journeys.”
Geelong v St Kilda
Geelong coach Chris Scott was happy with Jhye Clark’s game with 13 disposals. He said: “I thought Jhye Clark was really good too. He’s played one game but only 20 minutes in the game before he got hurt. This is really his first full gam of AFL football. I thought he looked like he belonged out there.”
The Cats used Shaun Mannagh as the sub, coming on at three-quarter time for a cramping Tyson Stengle and Scott said: “We were trying to get Shaun Mannagh into the game a bit earlier. He came on and made an impact.”
Scott praised Ollie Dempsey for his game with 3 goals. He said: “Ollie Dempsey has forced his way into a team that doesn’t have many injury concerns. That speaks to his pre-season.”
He also gave an update on ruckman Toby Conway’s selection status. He said: “We always planned to get Toby in early. He’s a 208cm ruckman who’s played 10 games in his 2 years in the club, so we’re not going to rush him through. We’re looking forward to getting him into the team.”
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said about Jack Sinclair’s (calf) availability for next week: “Yeah he’s a good chance. We’ll look at all that.”
Lyon praised Darcy Wilson and Lance Collard for their debuts. He said: “It’s pretty exciting the debutants. Collard, he came on and injected some speed. I thought he gave us some life. Wilson, it’s the start to the journey for him. He’s got plenty of improvement. I thought he did some nice things. He’ll row in stature, physically and within the game with how he plays and runs.”
Gold Coast v Adelaide
Gold Coast coach Damie Hardwick praised Matt Rowell. He said: “The thing is he wins the ball. He bursts through tackles, he releases players and that’s what good players do. He’s had a great impact in the first couple of weeks.”
Hardwick also discussed the form of Alex Sexton in his new half-back role. Hardwick said: “He’s going really well. I’ve been pleased, from a trait point of view, he fits the role of a rebounding defender for us. I’ve been really pleased with his aerial power and the ability to stay composed when the heat is there. He’s a really good decision maker with the ball, can distribute it well. He’s learning and he’s only going to get better.”
The Suns coach praised Tom Berry for his forward impact in a sign of his job security. He said: “I think his first 2 games have been very good. He’s exactly what we’re after with that role… he’s got incredible speed, he’s a great physical specimen that can create those things.”
Malcolm Rosas was handed a one-game ban for a headbutt or contact using the head on Max Michalanney.
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks singled out Josh Rachele for praise. He said: “I thought Rachele went to another level tonight. A few he’d like to have back but a lot of positive stuff tonight.”
Melbourne v Western Bulldogs
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin heaped praise on star midfielder, Clayton Oliver, who had a game-high 35 disposals. He said: “Like every Melbourne supporter you just watch him in awe. We have said a lot in the last few weeks he has just done a power of work on himself. The club has been incredibly supportive of Clayton. He is committed to the process and has come back a healthy, happy person committed to his training and his team. There is a great love for Clayton at our club, yes there has been a bit go on, but we are in his corner, we’re behind him and we want to see him succeed.”
Dees coach Simon Goodwin was also pleased with the output of former Saint Jack Billings after scoring (140/119 (AF/SC). He said: “He has started to evolve in our system. He had to work hard over the summer to understand the role that we want him to play. He has developed that in the few practice games leading in. I think today we saw the space and the connection in his kick all on show which is one of his great strengths – he is going to add a lot to us.”
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge was asked by journalists about the decision to leave out Jack Macrae and then proceed with Caleb Daniel as the sub, here are the following from his post-match press conference.
He said: “Jack has two games back, one he stepped through gingerly, and the most recent he was pretty good. With Jacko, he had a stress-related problem in his femur throughout the pre-season and then he had that hamstring which he went down with and missed a lot of training and running. His capacity to cover the ground needs to be there.”
“We are just waiting until Jack is ready to perform at his absolute best with the ground cover, but he is not too far away.”
On Caleb Daniel, Beveridge said: “In the roles and the responsibilities, he plays all of them well. With the pre-season, some of the guys have had he has just found himself out of the team.”
With a high ownership in Fantasy and Supercoach, youngster Rylee Sanders was subbed of in the third term. Coaches can rest easy as there was no injury suffered and it was a tactical substitution.
He said: “At that point, he was one of a handful that could have come off for the experience and stability of the team. Rylee is going very well. He is going to be a tremendous player for the club and is still learning. Ultimately as the game transitions on and the minutes expire there is no benefit of hindsight, so we will look after him and make sure he heads into next week with a positive mindset.”
Port Adelaide v West Coast
West Coast coach Adam Simpson admitted the temptation of moving upcoming youngster Harley Reid around is an option moving forward following his debut against Port Adelaide yesterday afternoon. He said: “I am just glad he got through. His performance today was probably like an 18-year-old playing his first game. There was a lot of attention on him throughout the pre-season. I think he is at home when he is on the ground and playing footy.”
“We pushed him forward a bit today, but that’s not to say we can’t play him back if we need some bounce, we were tempted to do it today but in his first game we wanted to settle him. He started on the ball and rested forward for about five or six minutes a quarter.”
A previous fantasy favourite Andrew Gaff only had four disposals against Port Adelaide and was subbed out of the game in the third term. Simpson was asked by journalists where his game was currently at.
Simpson said: “He didn’t have a great half. His form over pre-season warranted selection but he was out of touch today, so we subbed him in the second half.”
Liam Duggan attended plenty of CBAs which could see him score well for draft owners moving forward.
Port Adelaide Coach Ken Hinkley praised the performance of young midfielders Zak Butters and Connor Rozee following their 50-point win. Rozee (111/114) (AF/SC) and Butters (107/117) (AF/SC) both collected 27 disposals, to go with a combined three goals showing their ability to find the ball and impact the scoreboard.
Hinkley said: “I thought Zak and Connor both delivered. 14 score involvements for Connor and 12 for Zak, I thought they went arm in arm as they have done in their entire time at Port Adelaide.”
The only casualty for Port Adelaide was the injury of Jed McEntee who was subbed off for Francis Evans following a head clash.
Fremantle v Brisbane Lions
There was plenty of injury news following the completion of Fremantle and Brisbane last night. Darcy Gardiner injured his PCL and played no further part after halftime while dashing defender Connor McKenna injured his hamstring.
Coach Chris Fagan said although they have missed some key personnel, he confirmed star midfielder Lachie Neale will be right to face Collingwood in a fortnight.
Fagan said: “You certainly miss players and sometimes it takes a while to replace them. Lachie will be right for the next game, but we needed to get more out of the players that we had in the team today.”
Fremanlte coach Justin Longmuir heaped praise on Caleb Serong, who broke the disposals record at Fremantle collecting a whopping 46 disposals and 7 tackles. He said: “Caleb knows it’s not all about possessions, but it’s a nice little box to tick along the way (breaking the Club disposal record).
“In the first half, he had in the high 20 possessions but when he started getting tagged, he automatically flipped to how can I help the team win clearances and own the game, and not how he could get the ball. That just shows great maturity.”
The Dockers sustained three injuries with Karl Worner suffering a nasty concussion, while Brennan Cox and Oscar McDonald are a wait-and-see proposition, however in the words of Longmuir “look like pretty significant injuries”.
