AFL round 4 injury list: Luke Jackson hamstring injury as Dockers count cost, Harry McKay returns to VFL
Fremantle is counting the cost of their win over the Dogs with Luke Jackson and three others under injury clouds. Plus, Harry McKay returns to football. See the full injury news.
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Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said injuries sustained in Sunday’s win over the Western Bulldogs might force them to bring a couple of stars returning from injury back into the side for Gather Round.
Luke Jackson, Corey Wagner, Nathan O’Driscoll and Jaeger O’Meara all finished the 16-point win over the Dogs sore, or with injury.
Jackson and Wagner will certainly miss Sunday’s clash with Richmond at Barossa Park, with a hamstring injury and calf soreness, respectively.
Hayden Young and Sean Darcy both played their first games in the WAFL on Saturday, and Longmuir said they may need to come straight back in to the top level.
“Sometimes my plans and everyone else’s plans are different, but I would like them straight back in,” Longmuir said.
“And given we’ve got a few injuries, maybe that’s the way we have to go.
“But, yeah, we’ll weigh that up during the week.
“We’ll see how (Nat Fyfe) pulls up. He missed with injury, a bit of soreness. We think we’ve got on top of that, so he’ll be available for selection.”
Jackson went to the bench just before three-quarter-time and didn’t return.
However, Longmuir said he didn’t think the in-form ruck would be sidelined for too long.
“We think it’s a hammy. We think it’s low grade. So, like all these things we’ll get a scan but it’s not significant,” he said.
“You might have seen him trying to test it at three-quarter time, that’s an indicator that, yeah, it’s not significant.
“You lose one of the best players in the team, it’s obviously disappointing.
“He had nine score involvements, he was competing his backside off. And he’s been one of our better players consistently across the first four games.
“So yeah, he’s going to leave a hole.”
Darcy looms as a straight swap for Jackson.
He’s been sidelined with knee and ankle issues, but returned with Peel Thunder to share the ruck duties with Liam Reidy, in its round 1 WAFL draw with Claremont.
He had 19 hit outs and 12 disposals.
Longmuir seems keen to have him back in the ones, but said there was a bit to way up before slotting him straight back in.
“Let’s face it, he’s one of the best rucks in the comp,” he said. “He’s been top three rucks in the comp for a fair few years now.
“Last year, we were a better team with him in team. So he’ll give us a lot.
“It’s a balance, right, between making what we need next week and what’s going to set him up for success across the course of the year.
“And we always have those two interests in place.
“I thought he played well yesterday. He wasn’t playing against a slouch in the ruck for Claremont.
“He won’t be playing 90 minutes in the ruck like he can when he’s fully fit. But we’ll see what sort of minutes he’s up for, if he’s up for AFL selection.”
WELCOME BACK HARRY: BLUES STAR MAKES POSITIVE FOOTY RETURN
Carlton key forward Harry McKay has taken a step towards an AFL return with a comeback through the VFL.
Playing his first game since featuring in the Blues’ round 1 loss to Richmond, McKay showed some positive signs during a 56-point loss to Southport at Ikon Park on Saturday night.
After a quiet first half not helped by a lack of supply forward for the Blues, McKay found some touch during the third quarter as he booted two goals for the term.
He was swamped by teammates after slotting the first of those majors early in the quarter, which came from a set shot after a strong overhead mark inside 50.
McKay finished the match with nine disposals, seven marks and 2.2.
The Blues have put no timeline on an AFL return for the 2021 Coleman Medal winner, who had stepped away from football to deal with some personal issues.
Midfielder-forward Elijah Hollands – who took personal leave from the club on the eve of the season – also returned through the VFL and logged 18 disposals and two clearances.
Fellow AFL-listed players Matthew Carroll (17 disposals, eight marks) and Corey Durdin (11 disposals, 13 tackles) also impressed in the loss.
Carlton’s AFL side faces West Coast in Adelaide during Gather Round next weekend.
CATS RUE LATE CALL AFTER DEFENDER’S HAMSTRING BLOW
Geelong coach Chris Scott said the Cats were “kind of ruing” a last minute decision to play defender Jack Henry who would later injure a right hamstring in the second quarter against Melbourne on Friday night.
After the Cats’ 39-point win at GMHBA Stadium, Scott said Henry had been battling an ankle issue for at least a week but the Cats ultimately decided to play the 26-year-old in the Round 4 clash.
However, Henry was now expected to miss “weeks” following the hamstring strain, joining fellow defenders Jed Bews and Jake Kolodjashnij on the sidelines.
“We had some challenges pre-game, and that’s not unique,” Scott told reporters on Friday night.
“(Mark Blicavs) going out late threw our plans a little bit, and we actually had an issue with Jack Henry an hour before the game, and it was sort of 50-50 as to whether he might play, and now we’re kind of ruing the decision even though he started so well and it was completely unrelated to the hamstring that he did.
Jack Henry has left the field following this incident.#AFLCatsDeespic.twitter.com/U8KRpDo67n
— AFL (@AFL) April 4, 2025
“So it’s disappointing to miss him, but any team would struggle taking two of your best, if not your best key defender, out of the team.
“Given that backdrop we were really pleased with the performance.
“The sliding doors moments become more obvious the longer you’re in the game I think.”
While Scott was unsure about the severity of Henry’s hamstring, he said it was more than “just a little tweak”.
When pressed on what the other issue was that Henry faced before the game, Scott initially said it was an ankle.
“It’s a bit more complicated than an ankle, ankle-foot I’m going to say. He was really confident that he could play,” he said.
“His decision (to play) looked vindicated, and then the hamstring was out of the blue, so it’s hard to determine the severity of it, he’ll miss weeks.
“It’s not just a little tweak.”
Scott said young defender Connor O’Sullivan was “fantastic” as Geelong’s back six stood up in Henry’s absence while he was confident Blicavs would be right to play next round after suffering gastro.
BEVERIDGE’S HOPEFUL OUTLOOK ON JAMARRA, BONT
Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli joined full training at Whitten Oval on Thursday as coach Luke Beveridge said he hoped to encounter a “lovely problem” at the selection table.
Bontempelli and troubled star forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan gave another morale boost to the 2-1 Bulldogs on the track before their trip to Perth to face Fremantle on Sunday.
The Bulldogs skipper, who remains at least three weeks away from returning from a calf injury, took part in more than 30 minutes of training with the main group before he pulled away for a series of run-throughs and goal kicking with a rehab group including Adam Treloar.
Bontempelli trained without visible strapping on either leg, but Beveridge said his return timeline had not been delayed by the undermanned Bulldogs’ impressive wins over North Melbourne and Carlton.
“Look, it’s round 3 — we can’t get too excited. Yeah, we’ve won a couple of games, but there’s 20 rounds left … we won’t be in a position to pick and choose, we’ll play (Bontempelli) when he’s ready,” Beveridge said.
“If you kept stringing wins together, I still don’t think that will influence when he comes back. He’ll play when he’s ready to play.
“I did say to him the other day that it would be a lovely problem to have when we’re really considering what the make-up of his game is – how much mid, how much forward.
“From not even a needs perspective, but what suits the team, rather than we really need you to play 85 per cent mid, 15 per cent forward … it would be great to be in a position whether you can be more flexible or not with that. It remains to be seen whether or not we will be.”
Ugle-Hagan, who remains a long way from returning to senior football after dealing with personal issues over the past nine months, was first out on the track on Thursday and greeted reporters with a grin before Beveridge’s press conference.
He completed the full session, moving impressively in match simulation drills playing in a second-choice forward line against the Bulldogs’ best defenders.
“Yeah, he’s chipping away, ‘Marra’, so that’s encouraging. The more he can be involved in these main sessions … he looked really good the other day, the closer he gets to playing,” Beveridge said.
“He’s stringing … his program specifics here, together, and that’s really important for him, and for us.”
Small forward Cody Weightman jogged along the boundary line for part of the session, as Beveridge said his latest bout of knee surgery would help rather than hinder his chances of a comeback in the middle of the season.
“A setback, but a good week and a bit where (Weightman) just had some swelling, and a little bit of a post-surgery situation where it’s been tidied up. We found what it is, and now he’s feeling pretty good about himself,” Beveridge said.
“So his recuperation will accelerate hopefully now, and while all that was happening, the mending of his actual knee cap, which was the original surgery – that’s been good, that’s happening and it hasn’t been affected.
“The operation was successful, and that’s encouraging. Hopefully he gets some momentum in his rehab and the timeline is now certain. I know it’s still a bit rubbery at the moment, but we can tighten that up … hopefully, that can really happen now.”
WARDLAW SET TO RETURN FROM INJURY VIA VFL
North Melbourne young gun George Wardlaw is expected to make his return from injury through the VFL this weekend.
Wardlaw pieced together a strong pre-season before he suffered a serious hamstring injury in January.
The 20-year-old, who went at pick four of the 2022 draft, played 18 games last year and just eight in his debut season.
Coach Alastair Clarkson says the Roos “just can’t take the risk” with Wardlaw and will build his fitness through the twos.
“He’s missed a fair bit of footy, he’s available to play, we’re going to give him some game conditioning,” Clarkson said.
“We just can’t take the risk of someone that has missed so much footy, he’ll come back through the VFL.
“Despite the narrative of what happened to him prior to getting to North, the couple of little setbacks he’s had here are minor and this was a more serious one.
“Prior to that incident he hadn’t had one for 18 months, we just know with these guys the more you can condition them … he’s learned an enormous amount over the last two years.
“He had a hiccup neither he nor we could explain but he’s had a really good rehab and ready to go, he’s confident, he trained really well over the last 3-4 weeks in particular.”
Every AFL team is on notice after Richmond’s Rhyan Mansell was suspended for his dangerous push on St Kilda defender Liam O’Connell.
While some coaches are looking to incorporate adjustments to training, Clarkson will hold off on making any changes to the way players approach a contest.
“It was a little bit like the Arch (Jackson Archer) one with us two weeks ago, they’re not all that frequent in the game,” he said.
“Yeah to concern ourselves every time there is a response to that, when it becomes a significant trend in the game then we’ll probably ask our players to adjust.
“At the minute, some of these things, there’s not a significant enough of a trend to ask our players to play the game significantly differently to how they have the last 10 years.”
PAPLEY OUT FOR UP TO TWO MONTHS
It was more disappointing news for the Swans on Thursday morning with scans revealing that star forward Tom Papley is likely to miss up to two months of football after fracturing his heel.
Papley trained with the group on Saturday morning and complained of soreness after the session. Scans this week confirmed a bone fracture and the 28-year-old was an observer from the sidelines at this week’s main session.
He adds to a growing injury list for the Swans, which includes delayed returns for captain Callum Mills (plantar fascia), Taylor Adams (hamstring) and Robbie Fox (calf). In total, eight players from the Swans’ best 23 will be unavailable for Saturday’s clash against North Melbourne.
Tom Papley launches from long range 🎯#AFLGiantsSwanspic.twitter.com/4p3KCiJga6
— AFL (@AFL) June 22, 2024
However, Cox remains positive that it gives opportunities for younger players like Tom Hanily, Corey Warner and Caiden Cleary to step up.
“Unfortunately, on the weekend he cracked his heel,” Cox said. “He finished training on the Saturday, then came in early in the week, a bit sore.
“We’re gathering all the information. Looking to be six to eight weeks. But not great news, we’ve got key personnel out, now you get another one.
“I think the thing when you look at it with injuries is are they common? Some of these ones, Errol tackled in a thing, Callum with plantar fascia and now Tom with a heel. They’re all different.
“We’ve got to make sure we prepare players the best way we can. We understand it is a contact game. And to push players to a limit, knowing that they’ve got to withstand that on game day. So, a lot of our players were slow to start through the off-season, so some of them are finding it a little bit tough through this period.
“You’d rather have your best players out there. But the other side of it, I love playing kids or players who probably thought they weren’t a chance four weeks ago. That’s where the real excitement comes from.”
Cleary is firming to make his AFL return after serving a two-match suspension earlier this year. Logan McDonald will be managed through the VFL as he prepares to play his first game since last year’s grand final.
The 22-year-old is one of a handful of players who have changed positions this pre-season. And although he has spent a fair bit of time training in defence, Cox indicated that he just wants to see him back on the park first and foremost.
“Probably planned to (play in defence) and he hasn’t trained a lot through the pre-season program,” Cox said.
“So, the first couple of weeks will be just about playing. Whether that be forward, back, on a wing. I’m not really concerned with that.”
In more positive news for the Swans, Cox indicated that Mills had “turned a corner dramatically” with his recovery.
“He had a really good session on Tuesday on the training deck, pulled up really well,” Cox said. “Hopefully, (his luck) does change because he has had a tough two years.
“He understands what he’s got to do. Now, it’s just about hopefully his body allows him to do that.”
Originally published as AFL round 4 injury list: Luke Jackson hamstring injury as Dockers count cost, Harry McKay returns to VFL
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