The Friday early mail is in with updates on Luke Davies-Uniacke, Jy Simpkin, Jack Hutchinson, Zak Butters and Jordon Sweet, plus more.

North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has moved to clarify Luke Davies-Uniacke’s status following midweek reports of scans and a potential injury.

Clarkson said: “He’s fine, it’s just precautionary scans. We scan our players all the time, when they’re tight or sore. Competitive tough games of footy, it was a 6-day break this particular game so we got an early scan this week… Luke showed nothing, so let’s just play.”

The North coach also said Jy Simpkin is “good as gold to play this week” following a hamstring complaint which saw him withdraw late from last round’s game.

West Coast coach Adam Simpson confirmed that Andrew Gaff will miss their clash away to Essendon on Sunday. Simpson confirmed Tyler Brockman will play following an off-field indiscretion, putting rookie Jack Hutchinson’s spot at risk.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said Zak Butters is learning how to deal with tags, after being shut down by Toby Bedford last round.

He said: “Zak’s just starting to experience what that’s like a little bit, so you have just got to work your way through it. He’ll be fine, he’ll work his way through what the expectation of a good player is – and that is that they get attention. He knows that and he’s taken it on head on.

“It’s a bit frustrating for him at the moment, but what I do know about Zak, there’s going to be a pretty determined response every time he goes out there to play. It doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to have a great game all the time, but he will give everything he’s got to try and make that happen.”

Mid-season draftee Logan Evans has been named to make his Port debut. Hinkley said: “He’s got a good mix, he’s got good size, he can run, he kicks the ball well, he’s a smart user of the footy.

“We’ve had Logan train with us right through the summer. We’ve had a lot of opportunity to watch him. We’re quite excited about his pre-season. He’s played really well in his games in the SANFL. He deserves his chance. We’re really bullish about his future.”

On recalled ruckman Jordon Sweet, Hinkley said: “He played a really good game (in SANFL last weekend). He does that at SANFL level, he dominates at SANFL level. That’s why we got him. We think he’s better than a second-tier player. We think he’s an AFL player/ we also think the same think about Ivan and long term we think Visentini will be a very, very good ruckman.”