Tuesday’s injury reports are starting to trickle out with key updates across the board to help guide your Round 12 trade targets and trade-outs.
St Kilda have listed Jack Macrae as 1-2 weeks from a return from his punctured lung. Saints EGM of Football David Misson said: “Jack was extremely resilient dealing with a traumatic injury on the road last week.
“He’s been back at the club since leaving hospital and, along with a few others, will benefit from the extra week of rest during the upcoming bye.”
Jason Horne-Francis is listed as 2-3 weeks despite making positive progress in his return from a hamstring injury.
Port’s update said: “Port Adelaide could have several key players available following the bye including Horne-Francis, Esava Ratugolea and Darcy-Byrne Jones. Horne-Francis and Ratugolea have both been running for almost a week following hamstring issues.”
Essendon revealed on Saturday that Zach Reid has a hamstring strain but provided no timeline on his injury. Dons coach Brad Scott spoke about that on Monday, providing confidence it’ll be only a short lay-off.
Scott said: “He’s done a fair block of work, a whole pre-season, obviously played the first 10 or 11 games this year without issue and the real positive basically is we’ve seen what he’s capable of at AFL level.
“If he reinjured himself at VFL level, he’d be doubting whether he’s even capable of playing AFL footy, which I’ve never had any doubt, no one at Essendon has. It’s a setback but we think it’s only a minor setback.”
The Dons confirmed on Tuesday that Reid will miss 4-6 weeks, along with Saad El-Hawli.
Essendon’s update said: “El-Hawli experienced some hamstring tightness early in Saturday night’s VFL clash with Richmond, and scans on Monday morning revealed a strain – similarly, he is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks.”
Keidean Coleman is a chance to play for Brisbane this round. The Lions update said: “Coleman was also managed and sat out of last week’s win over Hawthorn due to experiencing some soreness following his return to AFL after more than 12 months on the sidelines with an ACL injury.
“The pair (Coleman and Oscar McInerney) are both available for selection ahead of Thursday night’s Round 12 match at the Gabba. However, the Club will wait until closer to game day before deciding whether to bring them back in or manage them for an extra week to rest.”
Richmond rookie Sam Lalor will miss 4-6 weeks, making him a trade-out, due to a hamstring injury.
Tigers High Performance Manager Ben Serpell said: “Sammy Lalor had a re-aggravation of his hamstring injury that he sustained prior to coming to the Club.
“Unfortunately for him, he is going to miss a bit of gametime, thankfully it’s only going to be around about three games though.”
Jayden Short also won’t return yet from a calf injury that is lingering, listed as 1-2 weeks after a setback.
“Sadly, Shorty’s calf injury isn’t progressing as well as we would have liked,” Serpell said.
“As we said last week, we are going to look after our players, and it will probably be another week before we can give an indication of where he is coming back to. In addition to his calf injury, we have to make sure he is conditioned for the game, so probably another week or two before we see him.”
There was some good news with Toby Nankervis set to return after being managed last round.
Serpell said: “Toby Nankervis has been carrying a knee injury, like many ruckmen. He is a bit of a machine to be honest, but last week we decided to rest him because we had an opportunity to.
“In fact, we had to hold him back from playing, but we think we have managed him quite well and definitely available for selection this week.”
Fremantle confirmed young gun Cooper Simpson will require shoulder surgery on a high-grade AC joint injury and likely miss 10 weeks.
“This is a relatively rare injury and the best intervention is to head in for surgery,” Executive General Manager of Football Joe Brierty confirmed.
“We will know more on timeframes post the procedure, but at this stage we expect Coop to be back playing in around 10 weeks.”
Sean Darcy looks set to return from a knee issue for Fremantle, which will impact Luke Jackson’s role.
Fremantle High Performance Manager Phil Merriman said: “They (Darcy and Nat Fyfe) completed training today, which is what we asked of them. The next step is just to make sure they pull up well tomorrow and then they will be available for selection.”
Bailey Smith wasn’t mentioned in Geelong’s injury report, while youngster Connor O’Sullivan was declared “available” after being managed last week.
Melbourne’s Jack Viney is a test to return from concussion, while small forward Charlie Spargo will miss 4-6 weeks with a scapula injury.
GWS have listed Josh Kelly (hip) as a test for this weekend, while Finn Callaghan remains 3-5 weeks away. Sydney’s Sam Wicks will miss 1-2 weeks with a low-grade hamstring strain.
