AFL 2024 Early Mail: Injury, selection and SuperCoach news for round 11

A social media post has revealed an injury concern for one of the most in-form players in SuperCoach. Plus updates on Colby McKercher, Darcy Jones and Collingwood’s injury list.

One of the hottest players in SuperCoach has raised concerns by revealing he was in serious doubt of training this week.

Brisbane Lion Dayne Zorko – who has a three-round average of 146 points – was shown in an Instagram story shared by ‘The Needle Guy’ Jim Bostock.

In the video, which was released on Tuesday, Zorko says while receiving treatment: “Well I couldn’t do this this morning (roll his ankle) so the fact that now I can do that so the fact that now I can do that suggests to me that’s maybe an issue in the calf.

“Now I should be able to train tomorrow. I thought there was no chance of even...like I said I was walking this morning and it was hurting. So now that I can roll my ankle out again and it feels the same on either side, that’s progress.”

Although the Instagram story has caused concern for SuperCoaches, it is unclear whether the video was shot this week.

The 35-year-old has dominated since moving to half-back, amassing 40, 26 and 35 disposals in his past three matches.

The role change made Zorko one of the hottest commodities in SuperCoach and he was traded in by more than 12 per cent of teams last week.

All eyes will be on Brisbane training on Wednesday to see whether Zorko is managed.

Dayne Zorko is averaging 146 in the past three weeks. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The Instagram story featuring Zorko.

ROOS WON’T RUSH McKERCHER

North Melbourne says Colby McKercher has “turned a corner” with his bone stress injury, but a return to senior footy still appears some time away.

There is no return date for the No.2 draft pick, who reported the injury last week.

He sat out the Roos’ loss to Essendon and has been ruled out of Saturday’s clash against Port Adelaide.

The Roos say they will “look to provide a clearer estimation next week leading into the bye”.

“The plan is to carefully monitor his pain scores when walking and once this settles to pain-free we will then look to build loads up, first through AlterG treadmill and then transition out onto the training ground,” North Melbourn head of performance Kevin White told the club website.

Jy Simpkin is likely to return after North Melbourne’s round 12 bye as he manages a low-level quad strain.

LONG LAYOFF FOR GIANTS ROOKIE

GWS small forward Darcy Jones will miss the next two months with a hamstring injury.

Jones, who was traded into more than 50,000 SuperCoach teams over the past two weeks, was subbed out of the Giants’ loss to the Bulldogs, and subsequent scans revealed damage to his hamstring tendon.

“It’s ... disappointing for Darcy that he has damaged his hamstring tendon, which will sideline him for slightly longer than a traditional strain,” Giants head of medical James Rahme said.

Jones added $58,300 to his SuperCoach price tag and is now valued at $182,200.

PIES HAND EX-BBL CRICKETER SHOCK AFL DEBUT

— Ed Bourke

Collingwood will hand an AFL debut to Wil Parker only three months after he decided to shelve his cricket career and change codes.

Parker has come from the clouds to debut alongside second-year wingman Ed Allan against Fremantle on Friday night amid a raft of injuries including a fresh concern for Jordan De Goey.

The 21-year-old rebounding defender was recruited as a category B rookie by the Magpies in February after shelving his cricket aspirations following more than two years on the outskirts of the Victorian side.

Parker, a leg-spinner, made his Sheffield Shield debut as a 17-year-old in February 2020 but was overtaken in the state pecking order by Todd Murphy.

He played in the BBL for the Hobart Hurricanes as recently as January last year.

Allan will debut in his home state as coach Craig McRae again praised him as the “fittest player” on Collingwood’s list.

Two debutants under Friday night lights 👀

— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) May 21, 2024

McRae has revealed Jordan De Goey’s late heroics against Adelaide were performed under duress as the Magpies star was ruledout for at least one game with a “fresh” injury.

De Goey suffered an abdominal strain during the third quarter against the Crows and pulled up sore despite playing out the match.

The 28-year-old appeared briefly during training at Olympic Park on Tuesday but quickly went inside after testing out the issue, which McRae said was unrelated to the groin concern which troubled him earlier this month.

“Jordy won’t play – he’s got a fresh injury, he’s got an abdominal strain. He got that in the game, and played through it, and then pulled up quite sore from it … he’s getting scans to check out what that means,” McRae said.

“This is a separate injury actually, the other one has settled down and this one has expressed itself as an abdominal strain – it’s nothing to do with the (groin issue).

“We actually worked through that process of assessing it wasn’t OP (osteitis pubis) or the start of that.”

Jordan De Goey will miss Collingwood’s clash against Fremantle. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

De Goey had returned to his former role as a deep forward against the Crows amid an ongoing injury crisis at the Magpies, but McRae said it would be softened with the return of Brody Mihocek (hamstring) and Beau McCreery (concussion) to face Fremantle in Perth on Friday night.

“It’s been a bit of a revolving door, and I said after the game (forwards coach) Scott Selwood and the gang have done an incredible job,” McRae said.

“It just hasn’t looked the same for three or four weeks now, and we’re managing to find ways to still score.

“We kicked 12 last week from a forward line that at times didn’t have any keys. We’ll find a way, (it’s) not ideal.”

The injuries have opened the door for fresh faces at the Pies who have become key selections in SuperCoach. Lachie Sullivan was traded in by more than 50,000 coaches last round, and Joe Richards is at the top of the trade list for round 11.

Joe Richards has kicked a goal in each of his two senior games. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

McRae said the Magpies were weighing up a recall for key forward Nathan Kreuger or a home state debut for West Australian wingman Ed Allan as they factored in the toll of a second consecutive six-day break on their senior players.

He again suggested matches should be shortened to ease some of the physical burden, linking the increasing pace of the game to more than 150 currently injured players across the 18 clubs.

“Our game’s giving us feedback … 150-odd injuries is a lot of feedback, it’s more than we’ve seen in our time,” McRae said.

“When there’s a problem, I look for solutions – maybe that could be a solution? I’m not here to change the game, and maybe others could decide that.

“The GPS tells us (the game is getting faster). The high-speed running is real, and there’s a cost of that, and then playing six-day (breaks) … there’s a cost of that.

“This is not a Collingwood problem, I just want to make that really clear … this is a club-wide issue that everyone is dealing with.”

Originally published as AFL 2024 Early Mail: Injury, selection and SuperCoach news for round 11