The early mail is trickling out with updates ahead of Round 21, headlined by Connor Rozee, Miles Bergman, Tom McCarthy, Liam Baker, Touk Miller and Alex Davies.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley provided an update on Connor Rozee’s status as he continues to play through a broken hand.
Hinkley said: “That injury is more manageable. He has been able to train and play. It will be sore for another week or two. He is capable of playing.”
Hinkley confirmed Miles Bergman’s season is over after being shut down with shoulder surgery. He said: “It was a tough decision. But it is the right thing for his long-term future at Port Adelaide. It is to make sure Miles is in the best shape for the start of pre-season.
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“Each game Miles played was making it progressively worse for Miles to deal with (injury),” Hinkley said. “It did not take too much to get a knock that would then flare it up a bit more. And there is the mental challenge for a player to have a shoulder injury and be asked to play inside-mid or against some of the best midfielders in the competition. Miles did a great job to get to that point.”
West Coast coach Andrew McQualter hinted that mid-season draftee Tom McCarthy could be used in the midfield as they look for replacements in the middle for Harley Reid.
He said: “We tried it for a quarter about a month ago … so we’re certainly open to it. The challenge with Tom is he’s been so good for us down back, so it’s a bit like what we do with Liam Baker – we rob Peter to pay Paul every week with ‘Bakes’.
“We need him in our backline, midfield and forward line, and we’ve got to choose where we think we can best resource him each week, and Tom’s a little bit the same as that. It (midfield) is a potential for us.”
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick confirmed Alex Davies will play again after an impressive return. He said: “Davies will play. Now he’s got a template about what his AFL game could look like. He can play the game. He’s a wonderful player … hasn’t got continuity in his performance. We’re looking forward to that starting to rise above the level.”
Hardwick also was weighing up how to use Touk Miller, potentially as sub, on his return from injury. He said: “I’ve got to resist the urge to put his magnet where I want it to be.”
Carlton revealed Charlie Curnow’s season is over after undergoing a knee procedure. Carlton general manager of football Brad Lloyd said: “While Charlie wanted to finish the season strongly, and we would have loved to have him out there for the remaining games, after further consultation this week it became clear that this would give Charlie the best chance to get himself right, recover fully over the off-season and be ready for when we return for the start of pre-season.”
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