The early mail is trickling out with injury updates ahead of Round 15, headlined by Jason Horne-Francis, Ollie Wines, Errol Gulden, Toby Greene, Jayden Short and Kane McAuliffe.
Sydney coach Dean Cox provided an endorsement for the immediate returns of Errol Gulden along with Tom Papley. Cox said: “They’ve had a really strong and intense training block so we expect them to come in and perform and play their role.
“They’ve been training as hard as they possibly can and throughout that period as well, learning a lot about game situations that we need to try and manage a little bit better, so hopefully they can bring that experience as well.”
Richmond coach Adem Yze discussed Jayden Short’s imminent return from injury, with Sam Banks impressing in his role in his absence. He said: “It’ll be based around form. Because Shorty has been out for so long he might not come straight back into the team.
“He might need some VFL minutes to get back in. Shorty has played different positions before, so if we feel like our back 6 is settled, we might look to move Shorty around.”
Kane McAuliffe was named among the outs due to injury. The Tigers update said: “Kane McAuliffe will miss due to a quad injury at training.”
GWS have named Toby Greene in their side but he’ll need to prove his fitness on Friday. The Giants update said: “Greene will look to prove his fitness in Friday’s main training session as he looks to overcome a persistent corked glute which forced him to miss last week’s win over the Lions.”
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley is “hopeful” that Jason Horne-Francis will be available following a shoulder stinger last round.
Hinkley said: “We’ll get through training and see how we go. We won’t take unnecessary risks with anyone.”
On JHF specifically, he said: “He’s a really competitive player, clearly, and he probably needs his arms and shoulders to be working pretty well, so we’re hopeful that he’ll play this week.”
Hinkley also said Ollie Wines was “less likely than likely at this stage” to play next week, having already been ruled out of this round with a knee issue.
Essendon coach Brad Scott revealed in-form young ruckman Vigo Visentini will debut against Fremantle on Thursday night.
Scott said: “We’re going to play Visentini this week. Goldstein has been unbelievable in what he’s been asked to do and what he has delivered but he’s at the point where we feel we’ve still got half the season to get through. We’ll be able to give Goldstein a two-week break with this weekend and the bye.
“We’ve been planning to play Vigo at some point and this is the opportunity for him to come in, so we’re really excited about that. It’s a challenge, no doubt, in Perth for obvious reasons, but he’s performed really well at VFL level and this is not something that we’re springing on him, so we’ll have him as ready as he possibly can be.”
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir hinted Nat Fyfe will graduate into the 22 after 2 games as sub.
“He’ll come into consideration (for a full game),” Longmuir said. “We’ll talk about that at selection. He’s definitely an option (to come into a game and have an impact). That’s what you look for in a sub.
“Gut feel is that you can only be sub for so long. We feel like [three weeks in a row] is the max. If he’s sub this week, he’d only get one more before we get him in the team.”
