AFL grand final injury news: Jack Graham out with shoulder injury, Lachie Whitfield, Phil Davis to play

Richmond’s grand final task just got a bit tougher, with GWS confident Lachie Whitfield and captain Phil Davis will overcome injury to feature in Saturday’s grand final.

Lauren Wood, Glenn McFarlane, Jon Anderson and Tim Michell

4 min read

September 25, 2019 - 9:59PM

GWS Giants testing injured stars ahead of AFL Grand Final

Richmond

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Captain Phil Davis is expected to overcome a calf complaint to lead GWS into its first grand final on Saturday.

Giants football boss Wayne Campbell said on Wednesday night the club was “fully confident” Davis would lead GWS into battle against Richmond.

“He’ll play. He’s done everything he can,” GWS football boss Wayne Campbell said.

“He obviously got through the game on the weekend. He’s done some training, he’s done some running.

“Didn’t train with the group today, but we’re fully confident that he will get out there on Saturday afternoon.”

Whitfield, who missed the preliminary final win over Collingwood after having his appendix removed, is close to a “certain starter”.

“He’ll play,” Campbell said.

“He trained fully today, you always put the rider, unless anything unforeseen happens.

“I think we knew when the news came through last Tuesday, you knew he wasn’t going to play against Collingwood.

“But as long as it was keyhole, as long they weren’t bursting inside, that he would play the following week.

“At this stage he’s a certain starter.”

The Giants were dealt a blow earlier today when vice-captain Stephen Coniglio made the selfless decision to withdraw himself from the selection mix.

“There’s a sense of disappointment and sadness, but there’s also immense pride in Cogs, the person he is, the man he is and the leader he is,” Campbell said.

Coniglio has not featured since Round 17 due to a knee injury.

Campbell said the star midfielder’s decision was an indication of the faith he had in his teammates.

GWS will also welcome back Toby Greene from suspension.

TIGER GRAHAM A GRAND FINAL HARDLUCK STORY

Jack Graham is out of the Grand Final.

The Richmond premiership midfielder dislocated his shoulder several times in Friday night’s preliminary final win, and after training today decided the risk of further injuring it proved too great.

“We’re so proud of Jack for playing on after he was injured on Friday night, he is the ultimate team man,” Tigers football boss Neil Balme said.

“He has tried his hardest to be available to play this Saturday, and we commend him for that, but there’s a high probability that he will re-injure himself in Saturday’s game, which has influenced our decision.

“While he may not be out there on Saturday, his contribution to the team this season has been invaluable.”

pic.twitter.com/pgwp5WkFmI
— Jack Graham (@jackmgraham_) September 24, 2019

Graham sent a tweet late on Tuesday with the message: “Thank you to everyone for their kind words over the past week and especially today. It is what it is, and sadly I won’t be out there this Saturday. I gave it my best. As hard as it will be watching this weekend I can’t wait to watch and cheer the boys on as we hunt for one last game in 2019!”

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said he got “teary” making the tough decision to rule Graham out.

“It was incredible for him to play that second half (in the preliminary final) with his shoulder hanging by a thread,” Hardwick said.

“So it was a really tough conversation today.

“I think we both got a bit teary, but he’s a wonderful human being, he’ll bounce back.

“But it was a sad day.”

Recurring shoulder dislocations tend to only become more frequent as shoulder ligaments loosen further with each dislocation.

In Graham’s case, it was deemed more than likely that he would only dislocate the shoulder again.

Jack Ross — who was a late withdrawal from the VFL Grand Final on Sunday as a precaution — looms as the likely inclusion for Graham.

It would be only his eighth AFL game, just two years after Graham claimed premiership glory in his fifth game.

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Earlier this week, All-Australian defender Dylan Grimes said he was confident Graham and Nathan Broad (concussion) could overcome their issues to play in Saturday’s decider against GWS.

Both Broad and Graham took to the track this morning for a light session at Punt Rd.

Graham’s shoulder was heavily strapped and he didn’t complete one shoulder stretch drill.

He did train without any noticeable discomfort and took a few marks overhead late in the session.

Jack Graham tests his sore shoulder at Richmond training today.

Broad completed all the drills and is firming to play, while a handful of Tigers on standby, including Sydney Stack and Marlion Pickett, also trained today.

Asked about Broad, Grimes said: “He’s in good spirits and seems back to normal.”

“I’m not sure if he has passed the testing and that sort of stuff yet but from taking to himself before he seems back on earth which is a good result.”

Dustin Martin has a laugh at Tigers training.

Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin, who copped knocks in the preliminary final, trained without any discomfort.

Grimes received an early week Grand Final surprise when he polled his first Brownlow votes in his 150-game career, scoring the best afield honours in the Round 4 win over Port Adelaide.

“I made an early charge, it’s only taken me 150 games to poll a vote,” he said with a smile.

He said the 2017 lead-up to the Grand Final was “a bit of a whirlwind” but “we’ve been through it once before so it means we can maybe enjoy it a little bit more.”

Richmond withdrew on-baller Jack Ross and winger Kamdyn McIntosh from its VFL grand final side on Sunday, while bolter Pickett was best afield.

Stack played limited game time on his return from injury to leave Damien Hardwick with several welcome headaches.