Stay up to date throughout Round 20 with our rolling injury report from the coaches post-game. With the nine-game round extending from Thursday night through until Sunday, these snippets of info will be key.
Hawthorn vs Carlton
Jai Newcombe was subbed out in the third term. Hawks coach Sam Mitchell explained “He had a bit of a tight calf coming out of the last game. We had a five-day break. He did a fitness test before the captain’s run yesterday.
“He passed that, so he was no worries. We’ve got to travel, we go over to Adelaide on Friday night, that’s a big game, and it’s a game we want our best players fresh and ready. If we got a chance to take Jai out… and give him a freshen up, I thought that was wise… he could’ve kept playing. He’ll certainly play next week. He’ll be fine.”
Mitchell heaped praise on Will Day after his return from injury. He said: “He’s an ultimate professional … we’re really pleased we were able to get him through the game in a healthy way.”
Jarman Impey limped off late and Mitchell explained “someone landed on his foot” and he’s unlikely to miss next week.
Essendon vs Western Bulldogs
Tom Liberatore was subbed off at three quarter-time after Archie Perkins trod on his ankle. He initially soldiered on but, given the margin, the Dogs took a precautionary approach.
On Liberatore, Dogs coach Luke Beveridge said: “He got the stops scraped against his ankle there. It just bruised him up a little bit. He was OK, he wasn’t impeded. We just thought, six-day break, we pulled him out of that midfield group for a brief period to make sure he’s OK. Little bit conservative with him, he should be fine next week.”
The Dons were forced to sub out Jordan Ridley in the second quarter with hamstring tightness. Essendon coach Brad Scott said: “He’s got a hamstring strain almost certainly. We subbed him out immediately. When he feels his hamstring, there’s no point sugar coating it. We’ll go do a scan, I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it.”
GWS Giants vs Sydney
Errol Gulden hobbled off in the dying seconds of the game, while Tom Papley spent some time getting treatment in the rooms.
Swans coach Dean Cox said: “Yeah, they’re fine. Paps is a little bit sore. Errol copped a whack on the knee but he went back out on the ground which is really good.”
Hayden McLean suffered an early concussion while Joel Hamling exited in the third quarter with a hamstring injury.
Returning Giants mid Josh Kelly was subbed out with calf awareness in the last term while Jack Buckley was mothballed with an apparent quad concern.
GWS coach Adam Kingsley said: “They both seem like they’ve hurt their calves. They’ll get scans. And then we’ll work it out. Both feel like they’ll probably miss.”
Toby Greene has been offered a 1-game ban for a strike on Isaac Heeney, graded as intentional conduct, low impact and high contact.
Gold Coast vs Brisbane Lions
Brisbane lost Connor McKenna to a hamstring injury which Lions coach Chris Fagan said would require scans.
Fremantle vs West Coast
West Coast lost Harley Reid late due to an ankle injury with fears of a syndesmosis. Eagles coach Andrew McQualter said: “I just chatted to him. He hurt his ankle, I probably don’t have much more information than that.
“You can see Harley put no weight on it as he was coming off [initially], and then he was able to walk off. So we’ll just do the normal protocols. We’ll go away, scan it and see. He couldn’t finish the game and didn’t come back on.”
Freo subbed out Hayden Young in his second game back from injury, where he won the medal for best afield. Dockers coach Justin Longmuir said: “I didn’t sub him out because of his performance just quietly. I thought it was a great time to get him out. He’d done enough work, and it’s a good build from last week.
“We’ve missed his ball use at times this year, so he’s a welcome addition. He gives another big body around there as well, which helps Andy and Caleb and the other mids. So yeah, we’ve missed that as well.”
North Melbourne vs Geelong
Geelong subbed out veteran Patrick Dangerfield out of precaution given the margin and he enjoyed a kebab on the sidelines.
Adelaide vs Port Adelaide
Port skipper Connor Rozee played with a broken hand. Port coach Ken Hinkley said: “I thought he did a pretty good job considering. The hand didn’t bother him to a point. Clearly if anyone has ever played with a broken hand, it can be managed much easier than some injuries. To Connor’s credit, he was very, very confident right through the week to tonight.”
Hinkley explained Jack Lukosius suffered a calf tweak and Lachie Jones had a corkie. Adelaide lost Max Michalanney to a hamstring injury that will require scans.
Richmond vs Collingwood
Collingwood coach Craig McRae hailed Nick Daicos for another good game off half-back. He said: “Did I hear right that it was the highest rated game of any player this year? That’s what I heard.
“Metres gained, scoreboard impact, to be the most of any player in the competition this year says a lot. Two weeks in a row he has been able to create off half-back in moments and still not lose that dynamic stuff around the ball and then even deep forward. That is a year form of planning.”
McRae said Scott Pendlebury was a late out due to a corked quad from training and Lachie Sullivan was subbed out with a PCL injury.
Tim Taranto was a late out after failing his fitness test on his calf. Richmond coach Adem Yze said: “He got through yesterday, so he got through the captain’s run, but there was obviously still a risk of getting through the warm-up and really testing it. Our fitness staff really wanted him to hit high speed today and he just felt a bit of awareness today.
“To his credit, he wanted to play, but we’ve still got a month of footy and he is too important to us to send him out there and make the injury worse. Hopefully by doing what we did today, he shouldn’t miss anything other than what he did today.”
St Kilda vs Melbourne
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon revealed game-winner Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera almost didn’t play Sunday’s game. He said: “He played with a stye. He had an injection this morning. There was a chance he wasn’t going to play. But his mantra is ‘use no excuse’.
“(The doctor) said ‘Nas’ has come in, (we’ve) upped his antibiotics, given him an injection. I mean, they can sound quite morbid at times, the doctors. So, then I just said ‘How’s Nas’, he’s pretty confident. Then I rang him, he goes ‘No, I’ll be right’. But I just said, if you’re not right, no pressure, we’ll tap you out.”
Lyon wasn’t asked about Jack Steele’s performance after reportedly picking up a shoulder concern late in the week.
