SANFL: West Adelaide’s Taite Silverlock to be given every chance to prove his fitness for final

WEST Adelaide has emphasised the importance of Taite Silverlock to its side by delaying a decision on his status for Sunday’s preliminary final clash against Central District at Adelaide Oval.

WEST Adelaide has emphasised the importance of Taite Silverlock to its side by delaying a decision on his status for Sunday’s preliminary final clash against Central District at Adelaide Oval.

Silverlock missed the second semi-final loss to the Eagles because of a hamstring issue and the club is optimistic he will front the Bulldogs.

He negotiated a light workout in Richmond on Friday night but the club won’t make a call on his availability until just hours before the game, giving him every chance to convince coach Mark Mickan he is healthy.

The question is do the Bloods take a punt on Silverlock and back him not to aggravate the injury?

“Mark will make a call on Taite in conjunction with the medical staff,’’ Bloods football manager Andrew Marks said. “Taite means a lot to the side and will be given every chance to play.’’

Marks said the loss of Aaron Fielke and Logan Hill due to concussion and Adam Hartlett because of a thigh injury were big outs. But he said the club had the utmost confidence in the players coming into the line-up.

Riley Milne and Jack Agostino are tipped to get a spot in the 21 and they fronted the Bulldogs when the Bloods triumphed by 11 points in Elizabeth in round 14.

Since that victory, the Bloods have gone loss, win, loss, win, loss, win and loss.

The Bulldogs have lost both games to the Bloods this season but they had also not beaten Port Adelaide this year until last week’s first semi-final.

Bulldogs coach Roy Laird also has a selection dilemma, whether to play ball-magnet Chris Jansen. The midfielder has not played since round 15 due to damage to both knees but he has trained strongly.

“Chris got through training well on Thursday night and has put his hand up for selection,’’ Bulldogs general manager Kris Grant said. “West Adelaide has troubled us this season but hopefully we are better prepared this time.”

The Bulldogs trained at Adelaide Oval on Thursday and had a light workout in Elizabeth yesterday.