Thursday’s early mail is in with updates on James Sicily, Christian Salem, Bruce Reville, Darcy Jones, Aaron Cadman and many many more.
UPDATES
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said James Sicily was yet to be cleared to play following a shoulder injury sustained late last week against West Coast.
Mitchell said: “We’re not sure just yet. We’ll see how he goes at training, see how comfortable he is. We’re probably a bit lucky it won’t be too long, he won’t need surgery just yet.
“We will give him a chance because there was an injury there already it is a bit of a different management scenario. We will give him some chance for this week. If he does miss, it will probably be just the one.”
The Hawks coach said Mitch Lewis would just need to get through training to be considered for AFL selection.
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson confirmed Zac Fisher will miss this round due to a foot issue. Clarkson said: “He won’t play. He came out of the game halfway through the third last week and was hobbling around.
“He’s not far away but we want fit players. A big part of his game is his run and kicking. We’re better off getting him right.”
Clarkson also discussed Colby McKercher’s chances after 2 games back in the VFL following a foot injury. He said: “Colby and Griff (Logue) have had really good weeks at reserves level and got some good match fitness.
“Colby’s had foot problems before, so we just wanted to make sure we eased him back into full match play. They’ll both come into calculations.”
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said he was “really confident” that Christian Salem would be available to return following a minor knee complaint.
Speaking about Jake Bowey and Harrison Petty along with Salem, Goodwin said: “They are all at different stages of their week, but we’re really confident that Bowey and Salem will be available if they get through training today. We’ll wait and see on Harrison but the other two we’re really confident.”
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said Jackson Payne was “expected to be available” but acknowledged he couldn’t be 100% sure, while he hinted Jarrod Berry may not tag Izak Rankine, saying it’s “not an every week job”.
Fagan also discussed the form and role of Bruce Reville. He said: “He’s sort of come from nowhere. He’s been around our club for a while. We’ve always liked him. Last year he really started to improve so we drafted him.
“He plays his basic role really well. He’s a brave player, he’s a really good tackler, he’s a team man. I thought last week, in that last quarter, he had 9 possessions and 2 score assists which is pretty astonishing for a bloke playing in his 7th or 8th game. I guess it helps that he’s 23, he’s a little bit older, late developer. He’s one of a group of players that have stepped for us in the face of injury and really made a difference. Logan Morris, Kai Lohmann, those guys have been terrific for us.”
GWS coach Adam Kingsley indicated Aaron Cadman and Darcy Jones are firmly in the mix to return.
Kingsley said: “Both of those guys in the past two weeks have been really strong in the VFL. Both have played the way we want at VFL level.
“Cads has been dominating the air and really competing well. Jones has been really strong at ground level, providing some pressure. I think it looks likely that they’ll play but we’ll assemble as a match committee later today.”
The potential return of Cadman may see Max Gruzewski make way, while Kingsley added Toby Bedford is likely to tag again with someone like Sam Walsh potentially in his sights.
Kingsley noted Lachie Ash was battling a corked calf, while he noted Josh Kelly’s latest calf problem. He said: “I felt like we’d been over the hump but Kelly again hurting his calf, maybe we haven’t quite solved the problems in that space. We continue to dig and try work out why and adjust our program accordingly.”
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks confirmed Will Hamill has been ruled out for 3-4 weeks due to a hand injury that requires surgery, while they won’t rush back Riley Thilthorpe.
Nicks also discussed last week’s debutant Zac Taylor and his chances of being elevated from sub into the 22. He said: “We don’t have to give him another run this week but we will. We’d love to. He deserves the opportunity given he was a late call-up.
“I thought he came on and made an impact especially with ball in hand. What we saw behind the scenes was some really strong work, albeit over a quarter of footy, when he didn’t have the footy. I think he’s going to be an exciting player for us going forward. We’d love to give him another chance, whether that’s in the sub role again, that’s something we’ll need to look at.”
Richmond coach Adem Yze said they’d likely persist with Noah Balta playing forward, while he said Samson Ryan was “touch and go”. He added Dion Prestia would likely be available the following week.
