Stay up to date throughout Round 8 with our rolling injury report from the coaches post-game. With the nine-game round extending from Thursday night through until Sunday night, these snippets of info will be key.
Essendon vs North Melbourne
The Bombers lost Jordan Ridley (hamstring), Jade Gresham (adductor) and Harrison Jones (ankle) to injuries.
Essendon coach Brad Scott said: “Ridley, hamstring, fresh injury, unrelated to anything he’s had prior. He’s had a hamstring injury before but to the other leg … Hopefully that’s not too serious.
“Gresham couldn’t come back on late with a bit of adductor tightness. So we’ll get that checked and get it assessed and get back to you.
“The Jones one … I mean dislocated ankle is the minimum. He’ll go to hospital and have further assessments and see if there’s any further damage there. He’s in a fair bit of pain and his ankle’s pointing the wrong way.”
Essendon have since confirmed Ridley’s injury is a high-grade hamstring strain which will see him several weeks.
North confirmed Jackson Archer’s hamstring injury was a high-grade one, leading to a longer absence. Kangas footy boss Todd Viney said: “We anticipate Jackson will miss approximately eight weeks, but that timeline will depend on his early rehab progress.”
St Kilda vs Fremantle
Freo lost Hayden Young to a hamstring injury which saw him subbed out. Dockers coach Justin Longmuir said: “We’ll get it scanned, but it doesn’t look great … it looks serious.”
Mattaes Phillipou was a late withdrawal for the Saints due to a corked quad. Saints coach Ross Lyon said: “He was picked, and he had a knee-on-knee clash around his quad early in training. He went off and he said, ‘I’ll get up’… but we picked the team without him in, (the) doctors were never confident.”
Western Bulldogs vs Port Adelaide
Neither side picked up any injury concerns.
Adelaide vs Carlton
Crows coach Matthew Nicks praised Jordan Dawson for his impact. He said: “He had a huge impact in a couple of areas, on-ball, and then went forward… I think he’s done it off the back of an area we’ve worked on this week – tackles, our intensity – I thought he was part of that that started through the middle of the ground early and it set the scene for the game.”
Sam Walsh had a corked hip early on, but played the game out. Adam Saad seemed concerned by a groin issue but also played on.
Collingwood vs Geelong
Geelong lost ruckman Rhys Stanley to a hamstring injury, which could lead to a re-shuffle with Sam De Koning potentially returning to the role.
Cats coach Chris Scott said: “We can guess and give you a number, and it won’t be right. Anyone that tells you what hamstring injuries are in the moment, they’re just lying to you.”
Scott confirmed young rucks Toby Conway (back) and Mitch Edwards (management) aren’t available and discussed their options more. He said: “I don’t know exactly how we’re going to go, but we feel like we’ve got options there.
“We’ve got two young ruckman on our list that we’re really confident are going to be good players, unfortunately, they’re still not available. So it means we’ve got to be a bit more creative right at the moment, it’s not ideal.”
The Cats have also lost Lawson Humphries for next week due to concussion protocols. Scott was hopeful of Jake Kolodjashnij and Jack Henry returning next week.
West Coast vs Melbourne
Jeremy McGovern was subbed out with concussion, in an incident involving Jake Melksham who has escaped MRO sanction. West Cost debutant Bo Allan was offered a one-game ban by the MRO for striking Trent Rivers.
Eagles coach Andrew McQualter also revealed gun midfielder Elliot Yeo is set for surgery and won’t play until the back-half of the year. He said: “Yeo is going to have some surgery just to remove some hardware from his ankle. He’ll have a couple of weeks off legs and then build. We’re really confident Yeo is going to play a fair chunk of football towards the end of the season.
Melbourne also lost Harrison Petty to concussion. Dees coach Simon Goodwin heaped praise on ruckman Max Gawn. He said: “We’re in awe of the big fella, the way he goes about his work. He’s had to work hard this season to get his form that he’s in currently.”
Sydney vs GWS Giants
Toby Bedford was subbed out with concussion, following a nasty hit from Lewis Melican who’ll likely attract an MRO ban.
GWS coach Adam Kingsley offered praise to Joe Fonti after his first game of the year. He said: “That’s how he’s been playing in the VFL. That’s his strength, he’s got great speed and run. We saw a lot of moments of that today. We’ll continue to try and grow that as best we can.”
Ruckman Kieren Briggs had an ankle concern late but Kingsley wasn’t asked about that specifically. Kingsley did hail Briggs for his performance, having hinted in midweek that he could be dropped. He said: “I thought Briggsy was pretty good today. I thought he competed really strongly, his follow-up was good. Back to the Briggsy we know.”
Hawthorn vs Richmond
The Hawks subbed out Dylan Moore, although coach Sam Mitchell wasn’t asked about the rationale behind that decision.
Mitchell also spoke about Cam MacKenzie’s injury and Henry Hustwaite’s job security. He said: “Unfortunate one with Cam, where he broke his hand. He’ll miss next week but we’re hopeful he’ll be back after that.
“I think Henry Hustwaite has done a really good job. He’s come in and performed at AFL level pretty much straight away.”
Noah Balta limped off late. Richmond coach Adem Yze said: “He copped a bit of a corky. He was trying his best to get our ball movement going from our back half, but he’s OK. He’s a battering ram.”
Brisbane Lions vs Gold Coast
Brisbane subbed out Sam Day due to a hamstring, while Gold Coast’s Lachie Weller exited at quarter time with a hamstring injury, with coach Damien Hardwick indicating he’ll miss a “couple of weeks”.
Lions coach Chris Fagan spoke about Keidean Coleman’s chances after returning from a long-term knee injury in the VFL. He said: “Kiddy Coleman had a terrific first game back from his ACL… He’s got to push his way into the side the guys are in there performing and I’m reluctant to change a group that are doing a good job.”
