The early mail is in ahead of Thursday’s team news with updates on Jordan Ridley, Connor Rozee, Jordon Sweet, Charlie Comben, Colby McKercher and Tom Liberatore.

Press Conferences

Essendon coach Brad Scott said defender Jordan Ridley will play this week for the Bombers. He said: “(Jordan) isn’t one of the four or five decisions, he’ll just play. We were very conservative with him, felt he probably could’ve probably played the GWS game, but we waited another week. He wanted to play last week, we felt a half in the VFL was the best ramp back to playing. He started this week knowing that he’s playing AFL footy this week. He’ll come back in.”

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin discussed the Demons midfield mix, which was exposed last weekend against the Eagles. He said: “We want to get more people going through the middle of the ground, that’s always been the plan. We’ll continue to look at what that looks like, whether it’s Kozzie Pickett or an Alex Neal-Bullen. We’re continuing to add layers, maybe a Trent Rivers as well. The best midfields have multiple people go through. We just got beaten on the weekend.”

Port Adelaide assistant coach Josh Carr said skipper Connor Rozee is almost certain to return to lead the Power this weekend. He said: “All things going well I’d say he’s a lock. He has to get through the week. But he was right from his point of view last week so I would have thought he will line up this week.”

Carr also discussed the Power ruck setup, touching on the performance of young tall Dante Visentini and the possible return of Jordon Sweet. He said: “Are there learnings for (Dante) to come out of the game vs a bigger opponent last week? Definitely, he’ll get better. Selection is open. The great thing about the three rucks is they bring something a bit different.”

North Melbourne coach Alistair Clarkson said young tall Charlie Comben has been managing a shoulder niggle in recent weeks. He said: “He’s been carrying a bit of a shoulder for the whole of the year, just like stingers. He manages it from time to time. At different stages we’ll pull him out of the contact work at training just so he doesn’t aggravate it at training. We just try to protect him from those kinds of incidents at training.”

Clarkson also added that the duo of Colby McKercher and Jy Simpkin won’t feature until after the Kangaroos bye. He said: “(Jy) has been really close and tried to train and play for the last three games and not been quite there. It’s probably set him back a bit. So we’ve chosen to get him and Colby McKercher right for the second half of the year.

“We’ve got the bye next week. Both (Simpkin) those guys could nearly play this week but it’s not worth taking the risk with him. We’ve just chosen to try get them right for after the bye.” Simpkin’s absence may be good for the midfield roles of Harry Sheezel and Tom Powell.

Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan indicated Zac Bailey is set to return from injury. Fagan said: “If he gets through training today, it’s more than likely we’ll select him… His goal scoring and creating ability, he helps us in the midfield and up forward.”

Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said midfielder Tom Liberatore should be available for selection within the next month. He said: “I think physically he’ll be okay. We’ll introduce him into the main football drills prior to his return to play. When it’s comfortable he’ll come back into the team. I think we’ve said it’ll be two or three weeks, it’ll be one of those.”

Debutants

The Bombers announced that young forward Nate Caddy will make his AFL debut in their Dreamtime clash against the Tigers. The 2023 draftee comes into the side with fellow forward Harrison Jones set to miss through suspension.

Collingwood announced a pair of debutants for their matchup against Fremantle. Category B rookie Wil Parker and young wingman Ed Allan will both debut in Perth for the injury depleted Magpies.

GWS coach Adam Kingsley was asked about Max Gruzewski potentially debuting, with Aaron Cadman and Jake Riccardi ineffective lately. He said: “He’s been strong in the VFL, Max. He’s putting his hand up, he’s competing really well. Do we trust with what we’ve gone even though it hasn’t been humming like it was in the first part of the season, or do we make a change? We’ve got both options available to us.”

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin hinted that Ollie Sestan could come into contention too. He said: “He’s getting close. He’s certainly building a four to six week patch where he’s playing with AFL intensity consistently. We’ve been working really hard with Ollie to get him to a physical capacity to be able to deal with the game.”