Wednesday’s early mail has landed with updates on Nic Martin’s role, Zane Trew’s job security, Sean Darcy’s return to play and Luke Parker or Callum Mills’s recovery after their return games.
UPDATES
Essendon coach Brad Scott discussed Nic Martin’s likely role having played forward against Melbourne, booting 4 goals. He said: “We’d just like to clone (Martin) and have two or three of him playing different positions. “He’s been a fantastic player for us regardless of the position he’s played, but we’re open to that (move forward).
“Part of the reason for putting him back in the pre-season to train him up as a defender was to give us that flexibility to be able to do what we can do in-game with him and others.
“Flexibility’s a good thing. That was our ambition at the start of the year to generate that versatility within our team, both talls and smalls. We’ve got that, but pretty quickly we’ve got to start to go with a preferred mix.”
Scott also discussed Dylan Shiel’s recent return from injury. He said: “Returned exactly the way we hoped he would. That’s why we were so patient to bring him back. It was a nasty injury that he’d had, took a long time to get that right and then it takes a long time to build the fitness base. Our goal was always to get him back to his best, not just to get him back.”
The Dons coach also talked about Darcy Parish’s fitness following a calf injury. He said: “He’s has been a hard one to give an exact return date. He’s in full match simulation mode and doing really big sessions. He’d be close to being available this week but he won’t play. With our conservative approach with the relatively healthy state of our list. We want him back at his best. He’ll be close to being available this week, but he’ll have at least one more.”
West Coast interim coach Jarrod Schofield spoke to 7NewsPerth on Monday and was full of praise for Zane Trew, who he brought into the side. He said: “The one game he’s played this year, it was limited minutes. His form throughout this season in the WAFL has been really solid. He’s been the most consistent out of the midfielders in the WAFL.
“We brought him into the side, we’ve given him confidence to go after his game, focus on his one-wood, he’s so clean, he can be strong in the contest. While it wasn’t a perfect game, it was a head in the right direction.”
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir also spoke to 7NewsPerth and offered an update on Sean Darcy’s progress in concussion protocols which may impact Luke Jackson. He said: “He’s ticked all the boxes so far. He’s got some pretty important boxes to tick to be able to be cleared of that concussion. Cleartly main training is the big hurdle he needs to get through. Fingers crossed he does.”
Sydney coach John Longmire discussed how Luke Parker had pulled up following his return to the AFL side and whether he’d play as sub again. He said: “Luke’s pulled up really well. He was in here running yesterday and pulled up really well.
“We’ll just see how it all goes and fits together. It’s a bit early in the week when you’re playing on a Sunday. We’ll see how the week unfolds.”
Callum Mills also returned from a long-term absence on the weekend and Longmire noted he was sore. He said: “Millsy pulled up a little bit stiff from his first game, so we’re hoping that by the end of the week he’s a little bit better and feels pretty good. We also don’t want to take any risks with him. He’s OK. We’ll just see how the back of the week goes.”
In terms of managing Mills or using him as sub, he added: “There’s a couple of different solutions to us. If we hadn’t have lost McInerney, we probably would’ve subbed Callum off.”
Longmire offered an update on Justin McInerney who hurt his PCL, confirming he didn’t require surgery. He said: “We’re hoping it’s not going to be too long. He’ll be in a brace for a couple of weeks and then we’ll see how he goes from there. PCLs can be a bit unpredictable. It’s at least a couple [of weeks] and how much beyond that, we’re not sure.”
Adelaide assistant coach Scott Burns endorsed the job security of Hugh Bond after his debut. He said: “It was an outstanding debut. Jack Higgins is averaging three-and-a-half shots a game, he’s been a terrific small forward this year.
“In those conditions as a small defender if you’re isolated and you’re deep, it only takes one mistake or slip with your feet and you’re out of position. Those experienced small forwards can easily control the drop of the ball, so I thought he (Bond) was outstanding, not only on Higgins, but he came off a few times and saved us as well. “It was a great first-up game for the young fella.”
Port confirmed Kane Farrell will miss this round after scans confirmed a “low grade strain” while Power assistant coach Tyson Goldsack floated Dylan Williams and Josh Sinn as options to replace Lachie Jones (concussion) and mentioned Dante Visentini was in the mix with Jeremy Finlayson ruled out for the season.
