Carlton coach Michael Voss has declared Zac Williams, along with Jacob Weitering, “ready to go” for this weekend’s game following an Achilles concern that saw him subbed last week.
When asked if he was confident they’d be ready, Voss said: “I am, yeah. They’ve had a pretty reasonable week. They both did a little bit yesterday, they did enough of what was needed. We had a look at them this morning, they’re ready to go.”
When asked what he needed to see from Williams and Weitering prior to the game to prove their fitness, Voss added: “Nothing. They’re ready to go. We’re pretty happy with where they’re at.”
West Coast confirmed on Thursday evening that Harley Reid would be “managed” this round.
Eagles Footy GM Gavin Bell said: “Harley has been fantastic for us over the first six weeks but we feel it is appropriate to manage him this week to give him the best chance to continue to be available and play at a high level for the remainder of 2024.
“The physical and mental demands to play, recover, prepare, train, and play again are significant on younger players and so taking a weekend off will give him a chance to manage his body and energy levels as he adapts to his first full season of AFL football.”
West Coast coach Adam Simpson added on Friday: “We’re going to miss him but we made a decision looking at the bigger picture. He’s a 19-year-old who plays an inside mid role, it’s just different. Doing the right thing by the kid is also a priority.”
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley spoke about Jordon Sweet’s role with Ivan Soldo ruled out for 4-5 weeks with a knee issue.
He said: “Jordon has shown that he is too good for the level below (SANFL or VFL). He needs this opportunity to show what he can do at AFL level consistently. He can build some confidence.”
Hinkley also praised Zak Butters. He said: “Zak has been pretty special for the footy club in a short period of time. He is a great story. To see the way he has attacked everything he does from the time he has got here, it is no surprise that he has played a quick 100 games. And it is no surprise he is at a level now that we recognise him as one of the premier players of the competition. He has thoroughly deserved (the accolades) for the way he has gone about it.”
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell discussed the likely role of the returning Will Day, acknowledging he’d playing “slightly lower game-time”. He said: “Obviously he’s played pretty much every position. The medical suggestion is he can play whether we deem it best, he’s done the majority of his training as a midfielder but we know he’s probably done more as a defender other than that, so expect to see him in those two roles.”
Geelong will welcome back Cam Guthrie are several weeks out with a quad injury. On his fitness, Cats coach Chris Scott said: “We’ve deliberately held him back. He’s been in full training for well over a month with a plan to get him straight back into the AFL team.
“It’s been a well thought through process and this has been the plan all along. You could say he hasn’t played AFL football for a long time, but that would be ignoring the pre-season and the preparation he’s had over the last six weeks in particular.”
Gold Coast have managed rookie Ethan Read this week and Suns coach Damien Hardwick that all their 18-year-olds may have rests this year, including Will Graham. Hardwick said: “It’s pre-planned in the fact they’ll have a spell, we’ll just work our way through when that is and what their body is telling us.
“Ethan had a couple of signs there’s some things getting high from a wellness point of view. Ideally, we don’t want them playing all the games, we’ve got some great depth in our squad. When the time comes, they’ll all get a rest.”
Finally, Channel 7 Melbourne’s Mitch Cleary is reporting that North will start Zac Fisher as sub this weekend. There’s nothing official from North yet. There’s also rumours that Massimo D’Ambrosio didn’t train on Friday,
