Sturt coach Marty Mattner confident Aidan Riley will front Central District in SANFL finals
Sturt coach Marty Mattner is confident Aidan Riley will prove he had overcome a neck injury and strengthen the midfield for the SANFL first semi-final clash against Central District.
UNLESS something drastic happens, Aidan Riley will play this week.
Those words came from Sturt coach Marty Mattner when asked if the tough onballer would front Central District in the first semi-final at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
Riley, a valuable cog in the Double Blues’ charge to premiership glory last year, missed the gutsy qualifying loss to Port Adelaide because of a neck injury.
But he trained well on Monday night and Mattner is confident of his availability for the do-or-die final when the Double Blues will attempt to avoid having their title defence derailed in straight sets.
“We left it right up until game day to make a call on Aidan,” Mattner said. “He got a knock on the neck a month ago and we made the call on game day - it was not worth risking him knowing we had the double chance.
“He trained really well on Monday night and felt the best he had in probably a month. It’s not guaranteed, but unless something drastic happens, he will play.”
The Bulldogs won’t challenge a one-game suspension for Kyle Presbury, who was banned for a dangerous tackle in the elimination final win over Norwood.
In-form Presbury has been played as a small forward and Josh Richardson is a strong candidate to come into the side as his replacement.
Port Adelaide coach Chad Cornes will have two teams on the whiteboard for the second semi-final against Woodville-West Torrens in the second game of the double header.
His first-choice line-up will alter significantly if the Power loses the AFL elimination final to West Coast on Saturday night, with at least three players forced to drop out because they fail to meet the qualification rules.
Port will keep three or four players out of the reserves’ second semi-final clash against the Double Blues at Richmond Oval on Saturday to have them on standby for the SANFL league battle.
“It is not ideal, but they are the rules and we will work with them,” Cornes said.
“It is a tough situation for the players held out of the reserves game, but it is what it is. There is no use moaning about it and we will get on with the job and get them to prepare like they are going to play.
“We will go in preparing for the Power to win, which is what we expect.”
The Eagles will regain defender Paul Stewart, who had a plate inserted in a fractured hand and missed the final-round loss to the Bulldogs.
Eagles coach Michael Godden said Stewart had returned to full training and he declared him a definite starter.