AFL pre-season injury and MRO news: Stay up to date with the latest ahead of round 1
Trent Cotchin has yet again avoided suspension, while Jordan De Goey also learned his fate after the MRO handed down their verdict. Have your say.
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Richmond star Trent Cotchin has again dodged an AFL suspension for a borderline strike after being handed his 10th fine since his most recent match ban.
Cotchin’s left forearm drop into opponent James Harmes was assessed as only misconduct on Monday, clearing him to play in round 1 on Thursday against Carlton.
He was offered a $1500 fine by the match review panel.
A low-impact, intentional strike would have seen him missing the Tigers’ clash against a Carlton side desperate to again beat Richmond in the season opener.
And Collingwood star Jordan De Goey was also handed a fine that will allow him to take on premiers Geelong after his sling tackle on Hawthorn ruckman Lloyd Meek.
Cotchin appeared to deliberately drop his forearm into Harmes but the available footage did not show whether he made first contact with the Melbourne’s player’s neck or head.
Cotchin now has been found guilty of striking four times for reprimands or fines, a $2000 fine for kicking and this week’s misconduct fine as well as financial penalties for melees, negligent umpire contact and tripping.
He has only a four-week ban for charging North Melbourne’s Sam Wright in 2010 but no suspensions since then.
De Goey’s tackle on Meek was assessed as low impact, careless rough conduct after he let go of the Hawks ruckman before he dumped him into the ground.
Meek appeared to hit his head on the ground after the forceful rough tackle but the low impact assessment saved De Goey a one-week ban.
He was offered a $3000 fine by the AFL in a massive boost for the Pies given his rampaging pre-season form.
At times the AFL has elevated the force of those hits to take into account protection of the head as it attempts to change the behaviour of players.
But MRO boss Michael Christian clearly believed De Goey did not breach his duty of care in a manner that warranted suspension.
Christian also cleared GWS ruckman Braydon Preuss of a dangerous tackle for his awkward contest against Gold Coast’s Tom Berry.
Doubt over key Tiger for round 1
Richmond is sweating on the fitness of Dion Prestia ahead of Thursday week’s season-opener against Carlton at the MCG after the star midfielder suffered a strained pectoral muscle in the club’s final practice match hitout at Casey Fields.
Prestia’s injury came as the Tigers copped a 50-point drubbing at the hands of a slick and well-organised Melbourne, an unflattering end to what had been a promising pre-season.
Prestia will have scans this week to determine the severity of the injury, with assistant coach Andrew McQualter uncertain of what it means for his availability for round 1.
The 30-year-old had five touches in the opening term, but came to the bench in pain early in the game. He sat out the rest of the game, apart from a running session he went through at half time when he gave the thumbs up to Tigers fans.
“It’s some sort of pec injury,” McQualter said. “We will go and get him scanned later in the week. We are not too sure (of how serious it is) at this stage.”
“Hopefully, it is not too serious. Hopefully it is not too bad.”
Prestia is considered one of the barometers of the Tigers’ midfield and even with the recruitment of Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper, would be sorely missed if he doesn’t play in the almost sold-out MCG clash with the Blues.
But the good news is that a rusty Tom Lynch got through three quarters of the game before sitting out the final term, guaranteeing he will be there to take on Carlton.
“He (Lynch) was a bit rusty,” McQualter said.
“He took five contested marks during match sim on Thursday, but (he was) obviously coming up against a great opponent in Steven May (on Saturday).
“He will be fitter for the run.”
Liam Baker starred for the Tigers in his first game back from an appendicitis a fortnight ago, while Robbie Tarrant and Marlion Pickett remain in the mix to take on the Blues after missing the Demons’ match with injury.
McQualter said the Tigers learnt some valuable lessons against the Demons, particularly in the ease with which Melbourne was able to transition from defence to attack.
“They (Melbourne) are a really well organised team,” he said. “Today they just transitioned the ball way too easily, especially from the back half.
“That’s the biggest area of concern for us … they moved the ball super.
“To score six goals from D50 is almost unheard of … it was a credit to them.
“We will go away and learn some lessons.”
DOGS ALLAY INJURY FEARS AFTER BRUISING PRE-SEASON HITOUT
Western Bulldogs are breathing an almighty sigh of relief with injured quintet Taylor Duryea, Ed Richards, Alex Keath, Hayden Crozier and Cody Weightman all expected to line up against Melbourne in the season-opener.
Saturday’s monstering of North Melbourne was littered with injury concerns however all proved to be relatively minor.
The most alarming was Duryea, who was sent to hospital wearing a neck brace after suffering a potential severe hyperflexion in an innocuous tackle that could’ve resulted in a small crack in his neck.
But scans came back all clear and Duryea is on track to return to training this week.
The shutdown defender and on-field leader is a critical defensive cog who was sorely missed in last year’s elimination final as Michael Walters booted 3.3.
With Duryea in hospital, Richards was substituted out with nothing more than a corked left thigh while Keath went to the rooms for a concussion test late in the second quarter – before passing and returning to the field in the third term.
Crozier also suffered a dislocated finger that looked nasty as it popped through the skin.
But all four defenders are OK while late withdrawal Weightman trained on Wednesday and the Dogs said they simply did not want to risk his sore adductor in a practice match.
On Duryea, assistant coach Rohan Smith said: “He just got a little knock to the neck. All the scans have cleared him of any injury, he feels OK which is a real positive for us”.
“The scans are all clear, which is the most important part. He’s just going to have a rest now and probably introduce himself to training this week and hopefully be right for round 1.”
The Dogs are likely to start the season without Ryan Gardner (elbow) and Laitham Vandermeer (broken leg).
Vandermeer has been recast as a blistering halfback, which was the position he played before he was drafted, and is targeting a round 4 return.
That would see him replicate the sizzling acceleration that Norm Smith Medallist Johannisen once provided bouncing out of the backline.
Perhaps the fittest player at the Bulldogs is their captain, Marcus Bontempelli, who was best-afield against the Kangaroos.
“He’s had an outstanding summer,” Smith said of the $11 Brownlow Medal chance.
“I don’t think he’s missed a session, he came back early with the one-to-five-year players and just really sets the standard every single week.
“He’s an outstanding person.”
BLUES DEFENDER ROUND 1 READY DESPITE NO-SHOW
Carlton is adamant defender Mitch McGovern remains on track for round one despite the backman not playing in either of the club’s pre-season hit-outs against opposition clubs.
The Blues lost their practice match to Sydney in Blacktown on Friday night by 43 points – a result assistant coach Ash Hansen labelled a “reality check” – and could be worse for wear as a result with fringe midfielder Paddy Dow set to be assessed after a final quarter knock.
Captain Patrick Cripps and key forward Harry McKay were both rested for the trip to Sydney, while injury-prone pair Jack Martin and McGovern were also absent.
But McGovern, who has played just 12 games in the past two years, is still in the mix to face Richmond at the MCG in less than a fortnight.
“They’re all on individual programs, we’ve all got an eye on round one, so it’s purely a management decision that those guys have done so much of the pre-season that we didn’t feel that having another game was going to make them any better prepared,” Hansen said.
“I think with our training environment, it is now, especially with the amount of match sim we do over the summer. And certainly a guy of (McGovern’s) experience. I think he’s shown enough that he can come into the team.”
Hansen said the Blues had been shown up at the contest by last year’s grand finalists.
“We got beaten in the contested ball … It was a reality check tonight, especially early.
“It’s a great audit, going into the season.
“It’s a blessing we got it tonight, because we didn’t lose four points.”
Dow came from the field late after copping a blow to his upper body, with Hansen unsure of the onballer’s prognosis. Losing Dow would further deplete the depth of an on-ball brigade that will be without Sam Walsh for the early stages of the season.
EMERGING SAINT GOING UNDER KNIFE
– Chris Cavanagh
St Kilda midfielder Marcus Windhager will have surgery on a broken hand on Saturday but remains in the frame to play in a round 1 clash against Fremantle just 15 days later.
Windhager hurt his right hand just minutes into his side’s clash against Essendon on Friday afternoon and was ruled out of the rest of the match.
He iced up the hand before having it strapped and was later spotted with his arm in a sling.
The Saints confirmed post-game that Windhager had broken a metacarpal, but medical staff do not believe that will mean a delayed start to the season for a player who has starred on the track over summer.
“You can get lucky or unlucky with those injuries. It sounds like he’s got lucky,” St Kilda assistant coach Robert Harvey said.
“He’s obviously broken a bone in his hand. But it looks like he will get that done (surgery) really sharply (on Saturday) and then it looks good for round one. So that’s good news, because it didn’t look good news when he came off and what he reported.”
The Saints had the same number of scoring shots at the Bombers but made the most of their opportunities to post a 35-point victory at RSEA Park.
The performance came after the side had fallen to a highly-fancied Melbourne side by 59 points during match simulation the previous week.
“The bones of some of the basics that we wanted to address from last week looked better,” Harvey said.
“Out hit around the ball was better, our general pressure was better, our ability to keep that ball in our front half was a lot better. So there was some positive signs there.
“We wanted to get a bit of energy in our game going into round 1 and I thought we saw that. Was it perfect? Definitely not. There’s stuff that we’ve got to get better at but there was some good sings there.”
Dons unsure of Stringer time frame
Essendon forward Jake Stringer is progressing with his rehabilitation from a hamstring strain as he pushes for an early season return.
Stringer missed Essendon’s final pre-season match against St Kilda on Friday evening but had been put through his paces with some running earlier in the day.
“He’s coming along nicely,” Essendon assistant coach Daniel Giansiracusa said.
“He was definitely doing some rehab. I was at the VFL game today.
“In terms of time frame, I’m not sure. But he’s out on the track and doing some running. He’ll join in with skills as the weeks go on.”
Stringer has not yet been ruled out of a round 1 showdown with Hawthorn on March 19 but is considered doubtful to line up in the clash.
Draftee Alwyn Davey Jnr put his hand up for an a possible debut in the forward line against the Hawks as he sparkled in attack with 13 disposals and a goal in the final pre-season hitout, proving particularly lively in the first half.
“He’s been pretty exciting and one our fans can definitely get excited about,” Giansiracusa said.
“The opposition definitely know when he’s around. The challenge with a younger player is how long you can do it for, but so every post’s a winner for him. So we’re definitely really excited about what he’s doing so far.”
Pies wait on De Goey, Lipinski as round 1 side takes shape
Collingwood is optimistic it will have only Jack Ginnivan and Pat Lipinski out of its first-choice side against Geelong as it awaits medical advice on a shoulder dislocation for its strong-bodied midfielder.
The Pies will have to wait until Monday’s match review officer findings on Jordan De Goey’s sling tackle on Hawthorn’s Lloyd Meek.
But they will be confident it was of lesser force than the incident that saw him handed a one-week ban for a sling tackle on Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield last year.
While he rotated and dumped Meek, his decision not to drive him into the ground could see the match review crew let him off with a fine or without any charge.
De Goey was at his slashing best in the pre-season win over Hawthorn as ex-Hawks Brownlow Medallist Tom Mitchell chimed in with 28 possessions.
Defender Brayden Maynard missed the victory over the Hawks with a minor leg infection but is in no doubt to take on Geelong on Friday week at the MCG.
It means the Pies have their choice of defenders as they decide if they can squeeze both Nathan Murphy and ex-Crow Billy Frampton into their side.
The Pies were also able to play Mason Cox and Darcy Cameron as twin talls while also playing Brody Mihocek and Dan McStay as key forwards.
Bobby Hill locked in his round 1 spot with another strong display for a Pies side that has suspended Ginnivan until round 3 after he was caught snorting a white powder.
The Collingwood players have a four-day break so no decision on Lipinski is expected until next week after his MRI scans are assessed after a shoulder dislocation.
But Lipinski might need another shoulder reconstruction given the problem with playing with an unstable shoulder if players forgo surgery.
His Pies teammate Nathan Kreuger dislocated his shoulder in round 2 last year, missed two weeks strengthening the joint, then suffered the same injury in round 6 against Essendon.
He eventually needed shoulder surgery that saw him returning for two finals and then had a second reconstruction in January this year after continuing issues.
Pies assistant coach Brendon Bolton said the Pies were hoping Lipinski’s shoulder injury was not severe after he played all 25 games in his first year for Collingwood last season.
“We’ll get scans and work out the severity,” Magpies assistant coach Brendon Bolton said.
“He’s a great young man so we’ll cross our fingers. We hope it’s on the lighter side.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Pat. When he came across from the Bulldogs his transition running for us can really expose opposition, he’s a gut runner and a good decision maker.
“We won’t worry yet, we’ll wait for a diagnosis.”
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