AFL Round 5 teams: Grand final won’t sway GWS call on Phil Davis for Hawks clash
GWS says its call to risk Phil Davis which backfired in last year’s Grand Final will have no bearing on whether he faces Hawthorn. Meanwhile, Sydney’s big man issues have reached breaking point. ROUND 5 TEAMS.
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GWS has declared Phil Davis’ grand final nightmare will not impact on the looming decision over whether he plays against Hawthorn on Sunday.
Davis suffered a back spasm in last Friday night’s win over Collingwood which he felt in his hamstrings, but the star defender is being given every chance to back-up a week later after training strongly on Thursday.
The race against time draws some similarities to last year’s grand final, when Davis bravely took the field at the MCG to lead his team despite battling a calf problem which required an extraordinary fitness test just an hour before the decider against Richmond.
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Davis’ call to play was justifiable risk to take given the number of personnel issues a banged up GWS were battling across the board, and the presence he felt he could provide as captain on the club’s biggest ever day.
However, it didn’t stop him copping a mountain of criticism after he was ultimately outplayed by opposite Jack Riewoldt and Richmond romped to runaway premiership glory.
Giants’ coach Leon Cameron insisted the club is not scarred by the Davis fitness test and it would not make them hesitate about playing their strongest defender if they feel he is fit.
“It’s a different case. Phil clearly had a calf issue going into the grand final and it’s like anything. A lot of people will jump on when you make those bold decisions and they don’t come off,” Cameron said.
“We made some bold decisions on grand final day, you look back and say, ‘would you do it again? Do you think twice?’ Maybe. But it wasn’t just Phil. We probably took in about four players who were a little bit underdone and Richmond were too good.
“We can’t discount that. That’s the nature of the beast. You win some, you lose some. If Phil and the doctors and we are all really comfortable and ready to play against some of the keys against Hawthorn on the weekend then we’ll pick him. What’s not going to come into consideration is what happened 10 months ago.”
If passed fit Davis could be set for a blockbuster match-up against the Giants’ former No. 1 draft pick Jon Patton, who will line-up against his old club for the first time on Sunday.
Straight after full-time last week, GWS were almost resigned to Davis missing a couple of weeks, but now there is genuine optimism.
It would be a much-needed boost given fellow defender Zac Williams has been sidelined.
“I think he’s giving himself every chance. He’s trained today and ran at a really good clip,” said Cameron.
“We’ll see how he pulls up tomorrow and then if he can complete the captains run then definitely more favourable than not.”
SYDNEY’S BIG MAN ISSUES REACH BREAKING POINT
Sydney Swans are officially in a big man personnel crisis, with Callum Sinclair the latest key tall ruled out with injury.
As the Swans prepare to go up against one of the most imposing ruck experts of the past 10 years in West Coast man mountain Nic Naitanui, Sinclair was to be trusted by coach John Longmire to fill Sam Naismith’s giant shoes on Saturday.
But now the Swans have lost their back-up too after Sinclair hyper-extended his knee at training on Tuesday and failed to come up for selection.
Sydney are now missing key tall forwards Lance Franklin and Sam Reid, while Naismith is gone for the season with an ACL rupture. Now Sinclair is out indefinitely.
In addition, young gun Tom McCartin will miss another week after suffering a concussion against North Melbourne a fortnight ago.
It’s a worry given his family history with head knocks.
By the club’s count, they now have a total of seven big men unavailable.
The Swans are likely to run with the versatile Aliir Aliir in the ruck, but at 195cm, he’s giving away six centimetres and a ton of experience to Naitanui.
If there’s one team you don’t want to go small on, it’s against the towering Eagles, who are aerially brilliant across the park with the likes of Naitanui, Kennedy, Darling and McCovern.
Sydney also brings in Sam Gray, Lewis Melican, Colin O’Riordan and Ryan Clarke to face an Eagles team equally desperate for a win.
PIES SET TO UNLEASH TRELOAR AFTER DELAYED START
Collingwood star Adam Treloar is set to make his first senior appearance of 2020 in Friday night’s clash with Essendon at the MCG.
It has been a frustrating start to the season for Treloar, who suffered a hamstring strain prior to Round 1 before the COVID-19 shutdown.
He then hurt his calf while in training before the resumption of the season, but is now “ready to go” after getting through some recent scratch matches.
“He’s been in good form and we asked him to play that extra game last week to bulletproof him going forward,” Magpies coach Nathan Buckley said.
“He hasn’t missed a step so he’s ready to go.”
Treloar looms as a straight swap for Steele Sidebottom, who is expected to receive a suspension for breaking COVID-19 restrictions at the weekend.
Harder to replace will be defender Jeremy Howe, who suffered a nasty knee injury against the GWS Giants last Friday night.
Buckley said it’ll be up to the whole defensive unit to make up for the loss of the in-form intercept backman.
“It’s pretty hard to replace what is and has been one of the best defenders in the competition,” he said.
“Statistically he is the best and the last few years he’s really elevated himself into the highest echelon of players full stop.
In short you can’t replace him with one, but the reality is we’re a systems based football club.
“We’ve got a really good understanding of the way we want to impose our game style on the opposition and we will look to put a back seven together that is going to be able to defend as well as it has to this point.
“We’re pretty hard to move the ball against and to score against, and Howie has been a strong part of that but not the only part.”
ROUND 5 TEAMS
Find the Round 5 teams here when they are announced.
Carlton v St Kilda
Thursday, July 2, 7.40pm, Marvel Stadium
BLUES
B: L.Plowman, L.Jones, T.Williamson
HB: S.Docherty, J.Weitering, S.Petrevski-Seton
C: J.Newnes, P.Cripps, S.Walsh
HF: M.McGovern, L.Casboult, J.Martin
F: E.Betts, H.McKay, M.Gibbons
FOLL: M.Pittonet, D.Cunningham, E.Curnow
I/C: K.Simpson, M.Murphy, W.Setterfield, Z.Fisher
EMG: S.Philp, L.O’Brien, C.Moore, M.Kennedy
IN: H.McKay, Z.Fisher
OUT: J.Silvagni (Injured), S.Philp (Omitted)
SAINTS
B: B.Paton, C.Wilkie, J.Carlisle
HB: B.Long, D.Howard, J.Geary
C: B.Hill, H.Clark, S.Ross
HF: D.Butler, M.King, J.Billings
F: D.Kent, T.Membrey, J.Battle
FOLL: R.Marshall, J.Steele, J.Gresham
I/C: D.Hannebery, N.Coffield, J.Lonie, J.Marsh
EMG: J.Sinclair, N.Hind, P.Ryder, R.Byrnes
IN: J.Geary
OUT: Z.Jones (injured)
COLLINGWOOD v ESSENDON
Friday July 3, 7:50pm at the MCG
MAGPIES
B: Crisp, Roughead, Scharenberg
HB: Maynard, Moore, Varcoe
C: Daicos, Pendlebury, Hoskin-Elliott
HF: Stephenson, Mihocek, Phillips
F: De Goey, Cox, Elliott
FOLL: Grundy, Adams, Treloar
I/C: Mayne, Wills, T.Brown, C.Brown
EMG: Madgen, Thomas, Cameron, Noble
IN: Scharenberg, Varcoe, Treloar
OUT: Howe (injured), Noble (omitted), Sidebottom (suspension)
BOMBERS
B: Gleeson, Hooker, Saad
HB: Zaharakis, Hurley, Ridley
C: Ham, McGrath, Langford
HF: Fantasia, McKernan, McDonald-Tipungwuti
F: Snelling, Stringer, Townsend
FOLL: Phillips, Parish, Shiel
I/C: Smith, Hibberd, Redman, Laverde
EMG: Cahill, Guelfi, Clarke, Zerk-Thatcher
IN: Phillips, Hibberd, Laverde
OUT: Francis (injured), Merrett (suspension), Bellchambers (managed)
WEST COAST EAGLES v SYDNEY SWANS
Saturday June 4, 1:45pm at Metricon Stadium
EAGLES
B: Hurn, Barrass, Duggan
HB: Nelson, McGovern, Sheppard
C: Gaff, Kelly, Sheed
HF: Cripps, Darling, Redden
F: Ryan, Kennedy, Ah Chee
FOLL: Naitanui, Yeo, Shuey
I/C: Waterman, Allen, Cole, Jones
EMG: Williams, Ainsworth, Rotham, Edwards
IN: Nelson, McGovern, Waterman, Allen
OUT: Jetta, Hickey (both omitted), Schofield (suspension), Brander (injured)
SWANS
B: Mills, Rampe, Melican
HB: Lloyd, Aliir, Dawson
C: Cunningham, Parker, Florent
HF: Heeney, Blakey, Hayward
F: Ronke, Papley, Gray
FOLL: McLean, Kennedy, Rowbottom
I/C: O’Riordan, Hewett, McInerney, Clarke
EMG: Foot, Fox, Taylor, Warner
IN: Melican, Gray, O’Riordan, Clarke
OUT: Taylor, Fox (both omitted), Sinclair, Naismith (both injured)
GEELONG CATS v GOLD COAST SUNS
Saturday July 4, 4:35pm at GMHBA Stadium
CATS
B: Kolodjashnij, Blicavs, Henry
HB: O’Connor, Taylor, Bews
C: Parfitt, Dangerfield, Selwood
HF: Tuohy, Rohan, Duncan
F: Ratugolea, Hawkins, Dahlhaus
FOLL: Fort, Ablett, Steven
I/C: C.Guthrie, Narkle, Menegola, Miers
EMG: Simpson, Clark, Parsons, Z.Guthrie
IN: Taylor, Narkle
OUT: Stewart, Atkins (both injured)
SUNS
B: Budarick, Collins, Lukosius
HB: Hanley, Ballard, Harbrow
C: Weller, Greenwood, Anderson
HF: Powell, Day, Ellis
F: Sexton, King, Ainsworth
FOLL: Witts, Swallow, Rowell
I/C: Bowes, Miller, Holman, MacPherson
EMG: Flanders, Wright, Smith, Sharp
No changes
WESTERN BULLDOGS v NORTH MELBOURNE
Saturday July 4, 7:40pm at Marvel Stadium
BULLDOGS
B: Williams, Keath, Daniel
HB: Johannisen, Cordy, Crozier
C: Richards, Bontempelli, Macrae
HF: Dale, Schache, McLean
F: Wallis, Bruce, West
FOLL: English, Liberatore, Smith
I/C: Wood, Vandermeer, Lipinski, Jong
EMG: Butler, Gowers, Sweet, Gardner
IN: Schache, Wood, Jong
OUT: Naughton, Lloyd (both injured), Butler (omitted)
KANGAROOS
B: McDonald, Tarrant, Atley
HB: Pittard, Walker, Williams
C: Polec, Cunnington, Hall
HF: Anderson, Zurhaar, Taylor
F: Thomas, Brown, Xerri
FOLL: Goldstein, Higgins, Simpkin
I/C: Dumont, Macmillan, Mahony, Hayden
EMG: Scott, Ahern, Bonar, McKay
IN: Cunnington, Macmillan
OUT: Ziebell (injured), Ahern (omitted)
BRISBANE LIONS v PORT ADELAIDE
Saturday July 4, 7:40pm at the Gabba
LIONS
B: Lester, Andrews, Gardiner
HB: Rich, Birchall, Ah Chee
C: Robinson, J.Berry, McCluggage
HF: McCarthy, Hipwood, Rayner
F: Bailey, McStay, Cameron
FOLL: McInerney, Lyons, Neale
I/C: Martin, T.Berry, Ellis-Yolmen, Starcevich
EMG: Skinner, Hinge, Witherden, Mathieson
IN: Martin, T.Berry
OUT: Zorko (injured), Smith (omitted)
POWER
B: McKenzie, Clurey, Houston
HB: Hartlett, Jonas, Byrne-Jones
C: Westhoff, Wines, Amon
HF: Ebert, Marshall, Rozee
F: Butters, Dixon, Gray
FOLL: Lycett, Powell-Pepper, Boak
I/C: Motlop, Rockliff, Bonner, Farrell
EMG: Lienert, Sutcliffe, Ladhams, Mayes
No changes
ADELAIDE CROWS v FREMANTLE
Sunday July 5, 1:05pm at Metricon Stadium
CROWS
B: Kelly, Talia, Brown
HB: Laird, Smith, Doedee
C: Crocker, Jones, Lynch
HF: Murphy, B.Crouch, Walker
F: Frampton, McAdam, McHenry
FOLL: O’Brien, Sloane, Keays
I/C (from): M.Crouch, Poholke, Hartigan, Hamill, Himmelberg, McAsey, McPherson, Davis
IN: M.Crouch, Hartigan, McPherson, Davis
OUT: Nil
DOCKERS
B: Hill, Logue, Conca
HB: Wilson, Ryan, Hughes
C: Cerra, Brayshaw, Aish
HF: Colyer, Taberner, Bewley
F: Lobb, Hogan, Walters
FOLL: Darcy, Mundy, Tucker
I/C (from): Blakely, Matera, Serong, Young, Banfield, Duman, Schultz, Sturt
IN: Darcy, Blakely, Duman, Banfield, Sturt
OUT: Fyfe (injured)
MELBOURNE v RICHMOND
Sunday July 5, 3:35pm at the MCG
DEMONS
B: Smith, May, Hibberd
HB: Harmes, Lever, Salem
C: Langdon, Oliver, Tomlinson
HF: Hannan, T.McDonald, Brayshaw
F: Pickett, Petracca, Fritsch
FOLL: Gawn, Melksham, Viney
I/C (from): Jackson, Spargo, vandenBerg, Rivers, O.McDonald, Hunt, Brown, Lockhart
IN: Jackson, Spargo, O.McDonald, Brown
OUT: Nil
TIGERS
B: Vlastuin, Grimes, Balta
HB: Houli, Broad, Short
C: McIntosh, Prestia, Caddy
HF: Higgins, Edwards, Castagna
F: Martin, Lynch, Riewoldt
FOLL: Nankervis, Cotchin, Lambert
I/C (from): Pickett, Rioli, Bolton, Baker, Graham, Aarts, Garthwaite, Chol
IN: Balta, Pickett, Rioli, Aarts, Graham, Garthwaite, Chol
OUT: Stack, Ross (both omitted), Astbury (injured)
GWS GIANTS v HAWTHORN
Sunday July 5, 6:10pm at Giants Stadium
GIANTS
B: Shaw, Davis, Corr
HB: Whitfield, Haynes, Ash
C: Kelly, Coniglio, Perryman
HF: Ward, Cameron, Greene
F: Daniels, Himmelberg, Finlayson
FOLL: Mumford, Hopper, de Boer
I/C (from): Keeffe, Hately, Green, Lloyd, Sheridan, Jacobs, Caldwell, Buntine
IN: Keeffe, Lloyd, Jacobs, Sheridan, Caldwell, Buntine
OUT: Taylor, Williams (both injured)
HAWKS
B: Hardwick, Frawley, Frost
HB: Gunston, McEvoy, Stratton
C: Henderson, Burgoyne, Scully
HF: Sicily, O’Brien, Smith
F: O’Meara, Lewis, Wingard
FOLL: Ceglar, Worpel, Mitchell
I/C (from): Scrimshaw, Cousins, Patton, Puopolo, Morrison, Shiels, Hanrahan, Jones
IN: Cousins, Patton, Puopolo, Morrison, Jones
OUT: Breust (injured)
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Originally published as AFL Round 5 teams: Grand final won’t sway GWS call on Phil Davis for Hawks clash