AFL Finals 2024: Adam Treloar confident he’ll be right to go, Will Day pushing for return in blockbuster elimination final
The Bulldogs and Hawks will be preparing for a blockbuster final this time next week – but will Adam Treloar and Will Day be there? Here’s the latest injury news.
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Western Bulldog star Adam Treloar remains confident he will be fit to face Hawthorn in next Friday’s blockbuster elimination final.
The Dogs star played with a tight calf in Sunday’s crunch win over GWS and has been racing the clock since to be fit to meet the Hawks.
He is one of several Dogs to take a light bye week, with goalkicker Jamarra Ugle-Hagan absent from training on Thursday due to illness.
While Treloar couldn’t yet lock himself in for the knockout final, he said he would ramp up his training next week.
“Obviously make the most of the week off, it is nice to have a week off and let the legs relax,” Treloar told media at the AFL Awards night on Thursday.
“Just to put myself in a position to train next week and hopefully train freely and play on Friday.”
Treloar played 22 of a possible 23 games this season in a career year, forcing his way into All-Australian side on Thursday night.
The Bulldogs will miss his drive through the midfield if Treloar doesn’t get up as they battle with a powerful young Hawthorn midfield.
Norm Smith medallist Jason Johannisen remains working through his own lengthy calf injury in a late bid to return to the senior side, while important forward Rhylee West is also hoping to be passed fit after missing round 24 with a jaw injury.
Day pushing for a return – but not in the usual way
– Glenn McFarlane
Injured Hawthorn midfielder Will Day will use an unusual location – Punt Road Oval – in an effort to push his campaign to prove his fitness for next week’s elimination final.
The Hawks are set to train under lights on Friday night at Richmond’s home training base in an effort to replicate similar playing conditions to what they can expect at the neighbouring MCG seven days later.
The clash with Western Bulldogs will be Hawthorn’s Friday night game since back in 2022 with coach Sam Mitchell keen to get some exposure under the lights for his players.
It’s understood a bid to train at the MCG under lights on Friday night had been unsuccessful.
Day is recovering from a dislocation of his sternoclavicular and faces a race against time to be ready to take on the Bulldogs in the cut-throat final.
He could have his first contact drills in the closed training sessions but won’t be pushed too hard given he will have at least another seven days to prove his fitness.
The club’s head of performance Peter Burge said this week: “Will has started running and conditioning outside and he’s feeling better.”
“We’ll be progressing his conditioning loads over the week and then reassess when we can start non-contact training, hopefully around the weekend.
“Beyond that, there’s still a few things for us to assess and look at before we progress to full contact training.”
Changkuoth Jiath (calf) has been back in full training and is on track to play for Box Hill Hawks in the VFL this weekend.
VFL Hawk? Cats great prepares to shelve ego to end career on high
– Jon Ralph
Tom Hawkins says he will push to play football next weekend, aware his AFL career might end with a stint in the VFL.
Hawkins has battled a lisfranc issue that has seen him slowly building up his preparation, but he admitted on Thursday he had suffered a number of setbacks with his recovery.
The Cats were hopeful he might play in the final two home-and-away clashes but instead he has had that return date repeatedly pushed back.
Geelong will play in a qualifying final against Port Adelaide next week, with their VFL side playing a qualifying final this weekend against Werribee.
So while Hawkins will be keen to play VFL next weekend, if the VFL side wins this Saturday they will have the next week off awaiting a preliminary final berth.
So Hawkins path back is complicated, but he at least is nearing a return.
“I’m going OK, it’s been very, very slow and I would have liked to have a bit more clarity along the way but unfortunately, it’s just a result of the injury.
“The fact that I’m 110kg and I play a unique way …. I rely on my feet and it (my foot) just hasn’t handled the load initially but I’m seeing some really good progress now.
“I’m thinking I’m trying to target next week to play some sort of footy.
“I’m not sure what that’s going to look like but I’ve still got a few pretty important sessions to knock over in the next 10 days before I have full clarity on what I’m doing.”
Geelong will clearly need a deep finals run for Hawkins to return to the senior side given the strong form of replacement Shannon Neale with Jeremy Cameron also in elite form since the retiring spearhead’s absence.
Hawkins told 92.9 Triple M he would park his ego to play at a lower level if it allowed him to get back to the AFL.
“To be honest I think anything is on the table, If I’m able to tick the boxes and get myself back and available, I think I’d rather be playing football than not. We’ll just wait and see, but absolutely it’s on the table.
“I came into the AFL system playing VFL in my first year and I might go out (the same way).”
“I’d love to get back and play some footy. I’ve been training very hard and diligently and the plan has always been to get back and play some footy.”
ADAMS LOOMS AS SWANS’ FINALS HARDLUCK STORY
— Lachlan McKirdy
Tom Papley and Justin McInerney are firming to feature in the Swans’ qualifying final against the Giants after getting through a light training session on Wednesday morning.
Both Papley and McInerney were put through their paces in some running and ball-skill drills along with the rest of their teammates. While more strenuous tests will be completed over the next week, captain Callum Mills confirmed both players are right where they need to be.
“Yeah, they’re going well, I think they’re a test to play,” Mills said. “They trained a bit today, which was really good to see and hopefully they’ll keep doing more and more leading up to the final.
“They’d obviously be really great inclusions. But I think also the way that we’ve been able to play with the guys that we’ve had in the team the last couple weeks has also been great.”
Their return would give John Longmire essentially a full squad to select from for their clash against GWS. It’s the polar opposite to the injury problems that derailed much of their 2023 season with only fringe players Will Edwards and Jack Buller out for the season.
It means there would likely be four inclusions for the Swans in the first week of finals with Papley and McInerney likely joining Isaac Heeney and Tom McCartin back in the team.
Aaron Francis and Caiden Cleary will likely be two of the unlucky players to make way with tougher calls probably to be made on more experienced players such as Robbie Fox and even new recruit Taylor Adams.
Mills believes even though it will cause some selection headaches, it’s a massive bonus going into a game against their bitter, cross-town rivals.
“It’s really important for the team to be able to have a healthy list,” Mills said.
“I think we’ve been pretty good at it all year, so fingers crossed we can keep doing that, and we’ll do everything we can as players to be able to get ourselves available and put our best foot forward.
“We’ve got a massive respect for the Giants who have been playing really good footy the last sort of month. Their form has been unbelievable.
“But our first quarters have gotten a lot better, and we’ve been able to play the footy that we want to play, and team defence has been a lot better. So that’s sort of given us confidence going to finals.”
Tickets for the encounter at the SCG have already sold out as Sydney becomes the destination for Aussie rules for the next month.
Following the AFLW season opener between the Swans and Collingwood on Friday night, Sydney will have three-straight weeks of finals footy including a preliminary final. Mills’s phone has already been off the hook as a result.
“There’s a lot of ticket demand … and I think they’re all exhausted already so it’s a good thing for footy in Sydney and New South Wales,” Mills said.
“It’s a tough market in Sydney with sport. So whatever we can do to be able to play well, get big crowds and do what we can showcase to Sydney in general is definitely a strength for us.
“The fact that we’re able to play a home final against the Giants, we’re really excited.”
Originally published as AFL Finals 2024: Adam Treloar confident he’ll be right to go, Will Day pushing for return in blockbuster elimination final
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