Aaron Cadman during the GWS Giants pre-season training on January 18, 2023. Photo by Phil Hillyard (Image Supplied for Editorial Use only - **NO ON SALES** - ©Phil Hillyard )
Stay up to date throughout Round 2 with our rolling injury report from the coaches post-game. With the eight-game round extending from Thursday night through until Sunday, these snippets of info will be key.
St Kilda v Collingwood
St Kilda copped two injuries with Mason Wood subbed out early after a heavy collision. The club has since confirmed: “Received a concussion as a result of the clash, but will now also undergo surgery to repair a broken collarbone.”
Saints coach Ross Lyon indicated Liam Henry had “severe cramp” late in the game but the club has since announced he “will miss a minimum of six weeks after scans today revealed a high-grade left hamstring strain.” Max King was also offered a one-game ban for rough conduct on Fin Macrae.
Pies coach Craig McRae used Fin Macrae as sub again and said about his prospects of starting in the 22: “That’s probably fair that there’s discussions why he’s not in our best 22. We’ve just got to find out. Fin has done a power of work and he’s one of those, we want to get a hungry young lad in there, he’s ready to go. Selection is later in the week but he’s one we’ll consider.”
Adelaide v Geelong
Geelong star Patrick Dangerfield was subbed off very late. Cats coach Chris Scott said: “I’m not exactly sure. He described a cramp. If he was cramping in both calves, I wouldn’t be worried at all, but he was cramping in his hamstring, so probably needs to be watched carefully. I’m just parroting what I heard him say to the media. We’ll follow that up.”
The Cats had two late withdrawals in Mitch Duncan (family reasons) and Tom Atkins (adductor). On Duncan, Scott said he’d boarded a plane at 4:30pm but pulled out late.
On Atkins, Scott said: “He pulled out of the game an hour before with an adductor issue that didn’t quite come up. We were confident that he’d play which is why we brought him.”
Scott praised Tom Stewart for his strong display. He said: “He had a pretty special night. Great game full stop but to do it on his 150th.”
North Melbourne v Fremantle
Fremantle star Nat Fyfe was subbed out at the beginning of the fourth term. Dockers coach Justin Longmuir admitted it was for precautionary reasons. He said: “It was just to save his legs. We are on a six-day break, he had a bit of a tight back that he was managing in game. As soon as I saw him getting work on it at three quarter time, I asked him the question and he was open to it. We had a midfielder on the bench in O’Meara, so it was a straight swap.”
Longmuir was full of praise for his star ruckman Luke Jackson who continued his impressive start to season 2024. He said: “Jacko just keeps on turning up, whether it’s the aerial contest, ruck contest or at ground level which gives him great opportunity to impact games. His ability to get forward and cause headaches has been a highlight throughout the last couple of weeks, he’s playing well.”
Longmuir added when asked if any there was any further injury news he said, “It was nice to get through unscathed.”
Rookie Colby McKercher seemed to limp off late, but North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson also confirmed there was no injury news to report on following the Round 2 clash. When asked about any injuries, he said: “Nah, I don’t think so.”
Hawthorn v Melbourne
Melbourne suffered two injuries to their key defensive duo Steven May and Jake Lever. May copped a heavy knock to the ribs early in the second term, while Lever was subbed out in the third quarter. Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said: “Steven has gone off to get some scans on his ribs. We suspect a broken rib there. Jake is going to have a scan on that knee. We are hopeful he will be okay though, but we will find out more after scans.”
Sydney v Essendon
Longmire was pleased with the performance of third year player Matthew Roberts who was again composed off halfback scoring (85/94) (AF/DT). He said: “He is a third-year player, and this is the first time he has done a pre-season down back. Following several players who come in as good midfielders they can also go down back, and he has been able to do that and pick it up quickly.”
Isaac Heeney continued his impressive form again for the Swans playing through the midfield scoring (117/149) (AF/SC).
After a solid first half for the Swans Brad Scott made a tactical decision to send midfielder Jye Caldwell to Heeney in the second half. He said: “I thought Calders (Caldwell) did a great job. I thought the midfield battle was interesting, Heeney was involved in a lot of scoring chains and getting them going so I thought we had to arrest that.”
Sydney was forced to make their sub early in the first term following a concussion sustained by rebounding defender Harry Cunningham. Cunningham was worse of after a collision with key forward Peter Wright. Sydney coach John Longmire offered an update post-match. He said: “He got taken straight off after that collision; he will be out for a bit – we’re really disappointed about that.” For that, Wright has been sent straight to the AFL Tribunal on a rough conduct charge.
Returning ruckman Sam Draper featured throughout the first three quarters, however, was subbed in the fourth for some added run and carry.
Scott said: “We couldn’t have been happier with Sam’s return. We made the difficult decision to sub him out late. Some of those decisions are difficult because we liked what he was doing at the start of that last quarter. I though Draper and Goldstein gave us good service tonight against Grundy.”
Brad Scott also offered an update on Darcy Parish who almost featured against the Swans. Scott said: “Well we picked him, and we thought he would play. He trained Wednesday and was fine, however Friday morning he just felt not 100% confident. He was cleared medically, however we had about an eight second conversation and if he wasn’t 100%, we weren’t going to play him. You suspect from that he will be fine next week.”
Tough defender Jake Kelly was also a late out due to illness.
Western Bulldogs v Gold Coast
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge discussed the game-ending shoulder injury to Nick Coffield. He said: “Belly just mentioned to me that he’s had that shoulder repaired before. It’s disappointing. It’s pretty unstable that shoulder. I can’t confirm what’s gong to happen but I’d imagine he’s going to be out for a fair while.” Ed Richards also left the game with concussion.
Beveridge also discussed the selection hopes of Jackson Macrae following a dominant VFL game, hinting his return may impact Harvey Gallagher or Ryley Sanders. He said: “It’s not that we didn’t consider Jack this week. One of the important things is you back your preparation in.
“The temptation was there but for Harvey (Gallagher) and Ryley Sanders to play the supporting act, they’d really earned it, they’d done extremely well. Jack is still in a build and today at VFL level is probably enough evidence that he’s pretty ready to step up, so there’s no doubt he’ll be considered. We’ll work out the mix.”
The Dogs coach also praised youngster Sam Darcy for his maiden game of the year. Beveridge said: “He’s better positioned to play at the level for a long period of time. I think he impacted pretty well in the 2 positions he played today. He’s got a lot of courage Sam, so he’ll get to as many contests as he can. It’s good signs for him.”
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick explained the timeframe on Jarrod Witts who missed the game with a groin injury. He said: “It’s relatively short term. Whether it’s 1 or 3, we’re not sure. We’ll work our way through that… It’s 1-3, not sure. Some guys respond differently to that.”
Hardwick also said late withdrawal Bailey Humphrey would be out in the “short term” for somewhere around 1-3 weeks.
He hailed debutant Jed Walter who only had four touches and one mark, with no goals. Hardwick said: “I think he’s going to be pretty good. First game so there’s some rust in there, but you saw his attack on the ball and his ability to want to compete which is what we’re after. He’s only going to get better and better.”
Richmond v Port Adelaide
Richmond coach Adem Yze said Maurice Rioli Jr was a late out after he tweaked his back in the rooms pre-game.
Yze added Nathan Broad would “most likely” return next week from a tight calf, while Jacob Hopper would undergo further inspection on a knee issue and possibly a cleanout which could sideline him for 2 weeks.
Port coach Ken Hinkley was “optimistic” Jason Horne-Francis would be fit to play next week following a hamstring issue but said they “won’t take a risk”, hinting at a long-term lens. Hinkley said Lachie Jones had a minor corked calf.
West Coast v GWS Giants
West Coast coach Adam Simpson heaped praise on the early-season form of Elliot Yeo. He said: “What he’s done in the off-season. He’s had a full pre-season. You can see he’s a different player to what he has been the last two and a half years. He’s always worked hard but he’s had a good run at it this pre-season.”
Simpson also assessed Harry Barnett’s performance in his maiden start where he was subbed in the third term. He said: “Harry is 19. You’ve got to give these guys some exposure. I thought he did his bit. Obviously he gave a couple of free-kicks away but he would’ve learned a lot today… Harry isn’t quite ready for a full game of AFL.”
Simpson was also asked about Harley Reid’s Optus Stadium debut. He said: “Without putting too much pressure on him, he had 15-18 touches and contributed like we thought he would. He’ll just keep getting fitter and better connected to our players.”
GWS coach Adam Kingsley was full of praise for ruckman Kieren Briggs. He said: “He was really important. I thought the stoppage dominance of west coast early was troubling for us… we were able to correct that and Briggsy played a big role in that.”
Aaron Cadman finished with three goals and Kingsley revealed he came into the game carrying a niggle. He said: “He’s progressing really well. I’ve been really happy with him. He wasn’t quite 100% today coming into the game. He had a bit of concern about a bit of soreness in his glute. The bye will be a nice weekend off for him.”
