The midweek early mail is live with updates on Clayton Oliver, Hayden Young and Luke Davies-Uniacke plus a potential cheapie set for a prime role as Christian Petracca’s replacement.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin was asked about Clayton Oliver’s fitness, having under-delivered this year, along with a potential forward shift with Christian Petracca out of the side. He said: “Nothing is off the table. Our primary concern is to get as many players in-form as possible.
“Clayton is a really important player for us. We’ll get him right back to his very, very best. We’re really positive in the way that he’s progressing in terms of his training and the way he’s going about things.”
When discussing Melbourne’s midfield options to replace Petracca, Goodwin flagged youngster Koltyn Tholstrup who played 1 game back in Round 5 and has averaged 25 disposals across the past 3 VFL games.
Goodwin said: “He’s progressed really strongly in the VFL. He’s certainly gone back and developed his game from a midfield perspective and forward of centre. He’s someone we’ll look at really closely. He’s a high draft with high talent. He gives enormous effort, he’s tough. He’s certainly someone we’ll look at this week.”
The Dees coach confirmed Adam Tomlinson will return this week, while Jake Lever is another week away.
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir moved to clarify Hayden Young’s injury status after a knee hyperextension against the Dogs. He told 7NewsPerth: “I think he gave the ankle a bit of a tweak, more so than his knee. It’s a little bit sore but the diagnosis has been positive and we expect to see him train on Thursday and play this week.”
Meanwhile, SEN’s Sam Edmund is reporting Luke Davies-Uniacke had an MRI scan on an undisclosed injury, putting him in some doubt for North’s clash with Melbourne this Saturday night.
