Panic Room: Chris Judd will play against Richmond, Cyril Rioli in doubt
CHRIS Judd and Chris Newman will line up at the MCG on Sunday but Cyril Rioli remains in huge doubt. Step into the Panic Room.
Hawthorn
Don't miss out on the headlines from Hawthorn. Followed categories will be added to My News.
NEED the best selection whispers and late SuperCoach and betting mail? Step into the Panic Room.
WHISPERS
Chris Judd will play against Richmond on Sunday.
Judd was supposed to miss the season but has been aiming for this week and will get there.
We can't say the same for teammates Heath Scotland and Brock McLean, who remain under serious clouds with quad injuries. McLean, who has tormented the Tigers in recent times, is the most likely to be a late withdrawal.
The Blues have nothing to lose, but coach Mick Malthouse won't take in a player he doesn't think can contribute.
"You don't carry injured players into finals," Malthouse said earlier this week.
"I would say any one of those players, and I'm talking about Scotland, Brock McLean and he, they're old enough, they've been around long enough to know they can't play a game of football and pull the side down because they can't get through."
At Hawthorn, the status of Cyril Rioli remains a mystery.
The Hawks are playing their cards very close to their chest on whether they will gamble on Rioli's ankle holding up against the Swans tonight.
The star forward missed last week's win against the Swans and has barely trained all week.
Expect a late change in the Fremantle line-up, with star defender Luke McPharlin likely to be a late inclusion to face Geelong.
McPharlin, who has missed the past eight weeks with a calf injury, joined his teammates for a recovery session at Eastern Beach in Geelong this morning and completed some light run-throughs with fitness staff.
"We're giving him every chance to get up," Dockers assistant coach Michael Prior said.
McPharlin might go in underdone but helping his cause is his likely opponent, Tom Hawkins, is also playing hurt.
At Punt Rd, Chris Newman is set to play his first final after a 233-game wait.
The former Richmond skipper has missed the past three matches with a nagging ankle injury but he won't miss this week.
Teammate Jack Riewoldt is also a certain starter.
And expect Collingwood big men Nathan Brown (knee) and Quinten Lynch (ankle) to line up against Port Adelaide, despite assistant coach Matt Lappin saying both still needed to prove their fitness.
Both players moved well at training today and it would take a major setback to pull them out.
MONEY MATTERS
Pulling off a win against Geelong at the Cattery might just be beyond even Ross Lyon's powers (don't write it off completely), but the Dockers are a great chance to get within the line of 20.5 set by TAB Sportsbet.
The Dockers love a tough, low-scoring contest so the margin is unlikely to blow out, and Ross has his men primed after resting half his side against St Kilda last week.
Add to your collect by backing the Tigers to break their finals drought in style on Sunday.
If they can overcome early nerves, they should comfortably account for the +13.5 points start on offer.
SUPERCOACH SPECIAL
If you've picked a team for the new SuperCoach Finals game, you'll know there is limited cash to stack your team with superstars.
Pick three guns - based on recent form and their record against this weekend's opponent - and the trick for the rest of your line-up is to find moderately priced players with the potential to score like guns.
Two future stars offer exactly what you're looking for - if they can stand up when the September heat is at its highest.
PICK YOUR SUPERCOACH FINALS TEAM NOW
Tiger Brandon Ellis is $338,100 in the backline and is capable of scoring well over 100 if he has a good day.
Last time against Carlton he dominated the first quarter before being shut down by Dennis Armfield.
Down the highway Allen Christensen slots into the same category. He's a little more pricey ($397,900) but also has the potential to score big, especially at the Cattery.
ON NOTICE
Richmond, your moment has arrived. After 12 years without finals and four seasons of patient building under Damien Hardwick, the Tigers get their moment on the big stage. Richmond finished fifth - four spots above Carlton on the ladder before the Blues were given a free pass into the finals courtesy of Essendon's exit.
The Tigers won four more matches than the Blues in 2013 and finished with a percentage 16 per cent higher. So it all points to a comfortable Richmond win, right? Well, maybe not.
The Blues happen to be Richmond's bogey side, winning 10 of the past 11 matches between the two teams, including their last meeting just three weeks ago.
And they have a lot more finals experience than the Tigers. How will the Richmond players handle the September stage? How will they handle the expectation?
The key will be surviving the opening 10 minutes then settling into the game plan that has proven so successful this season. But if things don't go to plan, it could get interesting if Richmond players hit the panic button.
Hawthorn takes over footy’s No.1 list
Three clubs have emerged from the 2024 season with the biggest stars in the AFL with a list of the top 50 players showing huge changes.
Trading places? How the biggest AFL deals will get done
Almost every AFL club is poised to get busy this trade period. See who your club is looking at, who they should be chasing and how they will get their deals done in our ultimate guide.