Marcus Bontempelli suffered an injury scare at training on Thursday with a call on his availability still to be made, while there was injury news on Kieren Briggs missing this weekend.
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Marcus Bontempelli will need to prove his fitness at a Saturday captain’s run after an ankle injury scare saw him leave training early on Thursday.
Bontempelli’s fitness test will take place at Whitten Oval on Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s game against the Crows in Adelaide.
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson was glowing in his praise of potential All-Australian ruckman Tristan Xerri. He said: “He’s got his opportunity, he’s been really durable this year. He’s played some terrific footy for us. Not just his big man craft, in marking, competitive in air and ruck duels, it’s his follow-up work and tackling and his positioning around the ground that has really improved throughout the year.”
GWS coach Adam Kingsley all but ruled out Kieren Briggs from Saturday’s game against Brisbane. He said: “Briggsy’s managing some shoulder stuff so he’s unlikely this week. We’ll reassess tomorrow but he was sore post game, six-day break, travel. I don’t expect him to get up… I think so (it’ll be one week). It’s hard to know. His shoulder will need to calm down a little bit.”
Kingsley indicated Lachie Keefe is likely to be their ruckman in Briggs’ absence. The Giants coach also practically confirmed Josh Kelly would return from injury and offered an update on Stephen Coniglio (shoulder), who will both likely impact James Peatling’s role.
“Josh did match play without any issues, so I’d expect him to be fine,” he said. “Cogs did match play. He seemed OK. I actually haven’t got the report post that. We’ll just see how that unfolds. I can’t be definitive about him. I’m hopeful that he’s OK. If he is, he’ll play.”
Kingsley also discussed Brent Daniels’ likely role, having impressed in midfield last week. He said: “He’s a really important player for us in front of the ball as well as that pinch hit on the ball when we need it. He might spend more time in the midfield, but I’d expect him to start ahead of the ball.”
The GWS coach also discussed how he’d use tagger Toby Bedford. He said: “It’s pretty obvious but they’ve got a really strong midfield, [Hugh] McCluggage hits the scoreboard and is really important for their transition game. We know Neale’s quality and [Josh] Dunkley is a player who will probably come to one of our blokes. They’ll pose some threats, I’m sure we’ll pose some threats to them, whoever handles it better probably gets the job done.”
Geelong coach Chris Scott confirmed Sam De Koning (knee) won’t play this round away to Fremantle. He said: “No, we won’t take him. He’s going pretty well but we think he’s very, very likely to play next week with a good preparation, so we’re just going to take the bird in the hand there.”
Scott also indicated Mitch Duncan was fine after missing last week. He said: “Fine as well. We’ve got a bit of old cliched good problem with selection at the moment. We’ve got good availability.”
The Cats coach also endorsed Shaun Mannagh’s job security. He said: “He didn’t do too much wrong earlier in the season. He’s going really well. He’s going to be hard to push out of the team I imagine. He’d bided his time, not only this year. He deserves the season he’s having.”
West Coast interim coach Jarrad Schofield ruled out Tom Barrass for Saturday’s game against North Melbourne and hinted Rhett Bazzo is in the mix to step in, with key defender Harry Edwards out due to concussion protocols. He added Archer Reid was “the obvious one at the moment” to get a game from WAFL side.
Schofield was also asked about retiring veteran Andrew Gaff’s role, with speculation he’ll be sub. He said: “We’ll work through that. We’ll finalise that. He’ll play his customary role. I dare say on the wing.”
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan was “pretty confident” Eric Hipwood will prove his fitness after being a late out with a groin concern last week. He also said Darragh Joyce was available but will wear a helmet and Charlie Cameron was fine and was only rested when subbed out.
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Ben Somerford
