Western Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli underwent a test on his back injury behind closed doors on Friday, with coach Luke Beveridge giving little away to media earlier in the day.
Speaking to reporters in the morning about Bontempelli, Beveridge said: “He is going to have a little test indoors so you might not see him and you may not know if he’s playing. He is feeling OK but we just want to make sure.
“From the probability point of view, he is more above 50 per cent, but I can’t tell you if he is going to play or not, in total honesty. As you can imagine with someone like Marcus, if he thinks he will be better tomorrow we will probably back that in.
“It’s just one of those back spasms where he’s been a bit disky from the tackle that he received. That can settle down or it can last a bit longer. It has settled down. Now it’s just the bending and the mobility and agility aspect of it. He’s pretty optimistic he’s going to be OK but we’ll just make sure.”
A fortnight ago, Bontempelli produced a bumper performance following illness, while there was a similar example earlier in the year against Collingwood, although Beveridge noted the differences in this case.
He said: “As has been documented, he has been quite ill a couple of times and I suppose during the week when he has had the flu and you wonder if he is going to be able to do anything strenuous, some of us might just step off or flip the bails but he is obviously able to push through.”
West Coast coach Adam Simpson offered an update on Elliot Yeo’s availability, following the tragic passing of his father.
Simpson said: “He’s got the flexibility Elliot this week. We’ve really tried to respect the situation he’s going through, which is tragic. He popped into the club (on Thursday) for the morning. He’s here today, and we’ll see how he goes through the captain’s run.
“We’ll give him up to the last minute before the game. If he feels like he’s not up for it, then he won’t (play).”
Port coach Ken Hinkley confirmed 186cm midfielder Will Lorenz will debut, having taken him with pick 57 in the 2023 AFL Draft. Hinkley said: “Will has played really well in a team that has had to battle hard at SANFL level. He has been clearly one of the best two or three every week. He has earned his right.
“He is a left footer. He is a really good decision maker in traffic. He can hit the scoreboard when he gets his chance. He will find out that this is a new test; it is a whole new level when you step up from SANFL to AFL. We saw Logan (Evans) do it last week pretty comfortably.”
Geelong coach Chris Scott spoke about debutant Lawson Humphries’ likely role and prospects. He said: “He has really deserved his chance, he caught our eye from early in the preseason especially with his ball use.
“He has had a really good patch in the VFL, we have been talking about him coming into the team for quite a few weeks now and we think he is going to add something to our team, particularly in the back half.”
Carlton coach Michael Voss confirmed Adam Cerra will play following injury having been named in the extended squad.
Voss said: “He’ll play. Adam has put a fair bit of work in over the last seven or eight weeks and we’ve probably held that a bit longer than we needed to, to try and get a couple of extra sessions under his belt. The fact that we were able to win a few games helps you be a bit more patient when it comes to that. He’s a very important player to us, so we’d like to get him up and going.”
Voss was asked about their ruck set-up with Tom De Koning starring in recent weeks with Marc Pittonet out of the side due to injury. Pittonet is now available again and named in the extended squad for Sunday.
He said: “I think going back to the form discussion, there’s a couple of things for us. The squad mentality that we have has been something that we’ve spoken about for quite a period of time. Our players really embrace that part of it and challenging each other to get better, that’s what we love about it.
“Obviously with Tom he’ in great form, he’s making his statement through the way he’s playing. It’s been a pretty powerful statement and we’re hoping that form continues. I always temper it as a coach to say we’re operating with a short window, but what we have loved is his continued progression as a player. He’s really valuing the little things in his game and I’ve spoken about his training, where he’s taken his training – it’s gone to another level – and maybe that’s given him the confidence to go out there and play 120 minutes of football. We know we’ll have to give him a chop out at different stages, but at this point in time, he’s in really good form.”
Voss also spoke about Zac Williams’ role, having spent time forward over the past month. He said: “He’s had a role change for us over the last couple of weeks that hopefully he can nail down towards the backend of the year. He brings plenty of life for us, plenty of energy and he’s looking to take these opportunities and he’s extremely grateful for what he’s got in front of him.”
