Stay up to date throughout Round 3 with our rolling injury report from the coaches post-game. With the eight-game round extending from Thursday night through until Sunday, these snippets of info will be key.
Essendon vs Port Adelaide
There were no injury concerns. Port coach Ken Hinkley praised second-gamer Christian Moraes. He said: “Christian Moraes last week came on as a sub and played a really solid game. It looked like he grew again tonight, I thought, the way he performed.”
Miles Bergman was troubled by a hamstring issue which Hinkley was hopeful was only a corkie.
Carlton vs Western Bulldogs
Carlton coach Michael Voss downplayed any injury concerns for skipper Patrick Cripps who copped a knock to his hip. He said: “The answer is I don’t know, other than I saw what you saw. He finished off the game, so other than being a bit sore, he’s fine.”
Zac Wiliams was subbed out and Voss said it was “nothing major”, believing it was a minor calf issue.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge heaped praise on mature-age rookie Sam Davidson. He said: “Really influential game on that wing. As he walked in, I said you’re playing like Peter Matera. He stood out in his 3rd game. He was having a night. Really encouraging for Sam & us. We’ve found a player there.” The Dogs coach said Oskar Baker was subbed out with a cork.
Melbourne vs Gold Coast
Xavier Lindsay was subbed out early with a knee injury. Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said: “It’s too early to tell. It’s not quite clear from a medical perspective. Normally you get pretty good information on that straight away. We’re unsure. We need to go and get it scanned. I haven’t got an official update. Obviously he went off with a knee. We’ll have to get a scan on that. Hopefully it’s not too bad.”
The Dees coach was upbeat about second-gamer Harvey Langford’s performance. He said: “He’s really positive today. We asked him to work on some things in the last 2-3 weeks in and around his game. He’s gone away and done that. He’s come in today and I thought he was probably our best midfielder.”
Goodwin also discussed his decision to start Christian Petracca forward. He said: “We wanted to have another goal kicking option for us. By the second half he was playing predominantly more midfield time.
Goodwin said it’s likely they’ll get back Kozzy Pickett, Steven May and Charlie Spargo next week.
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick praised the form of midfielder Matt Rowell. He said: “He has had an incredible start to the season. He is a wonderful player.”
St Kilda vs Richmond
St Kilda subbed out Irish youngster Liam O’Connell early after a head injury following a collision. Jack Steele was a late withdrawal due to a “knock on the knee”.
Saints coach Ross Lyon said: “He was just had a little tweak at training. We thought he’d be up, he just felt it in the warm-up… we’re pretty confident he’ll be fine.”
Richmond’s Kaleb Smith picked up a late hip pointer concern.
Hawthorn vs GWS Giants
Neither side had any injury concerns during the game.
Brisbane Lions vs Geelong
Tom Stewart was a late out for Geelong after battling a knee injury all week. Geelong coach Chris Scott said: “I’m told we should be really confident that he’ll be right next week.”
“We always take as long as possible to make a good decision… It’s not ideal putting a guy on the plane and then having him not play. But it is an indication of how close we thought he was. He did a little bit today but just didn’t feel quite right.”
Geelong subbed out Sam De Koning but Scott wasn’t asked whether that was injury related, having copped a knock in the third term.
Brisbane subbed out Kai Lohmann with an ankle concern. Lions coach Chris Fagan said he wasn’t sure if he’d be available next week. Ruckman Oscar McInerney was a late out with gastro.
Fagan offered high praise for Will Ashcroft: “I thought that was Will’s best game he’s ever played. I thought he was outstanding tonight. Tough, strong in the clinches, used the ball well. He’s been a bit worried about his form, he’s been putting along by his standards.”
Adelaide vs North Melbourne
North coach Alastair Clarkson downplayed any injury concern for ruckman Tristan Xerri who went to the bench with a hamstring problem.
Clarkson said: “He just had an awareness from stretching out of a ruck contest, he came to get assessed but the docs assessed him and he ended up playing the rest of the game, so he should be OK.”
Adelaide subbed out Josh Rachele with a ribs injury after a heavy hit. Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks said: “He’s a little ginger. He’s a little bit sore.
“We don’t know exactly [the diagnosis] as yet but it was quite a collision, probably the biggest bloke on the ground coming at speed. So we’ll have to wait and see on that.”
Nicks also discussed the form and role of Dan Curtin. He said: “I thought last week he was solid as well. It might not have been on the stat sheet but we highlighted a lot of dan’s stuff last week.
“He’s playing a couple of roles at the moment for us. He’s spending a bit of time down there (forward line)… we’ll keep trialing him in different spots depending on what the team needs. Is he pinch-hitting on the wing for us occasionally? We’ll keep trialing.”
West Coast vs Fremantle
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir was optimistic about Sean Darcy and Hayden Young being available to play next week, albeit maybe not AFL. He said: “Sean and Youngy should be next week at some level. We’ll work that out during the week.”
Longmuir said he was “hopeful” on Nat Fyfe returning while he explained the late outs for Jaeger O’Meara – due to illness – and Corey Wagner – tight calf.
West Coast lost key defender Jeremy McGovern to a groin injury and coach Andrew McQualter said he needed scans. McQualter said Jake Waterman was “some chance” to return from injury next round.
