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GWS to make call on injured star Josh Kelly’s fitness for weekend semi final clash with Collingwood

GWS will make a final call tomorrow on whether injured star Josh Kelly is capable of pulling off a remarkable recovery to play in Saturday night’s do-or-die final against Collingwood at the MCG.

GWS will tomorrow make a decision on whether Josh Kelly plays on the weekend. Picture: Getty Images
GWS will tomorrow make a decision on whether Josh Kelly plays on the weekend. Picture: Getty Images

GWS will make a final call tomorrow on whether injured star Josh Kelly is capable of pulling off a remarkable recovery to play in Saturday night’s do-or-die final at the MCG.

Giants star Jeremy Cameron says Kelly’s scans have come back positively and claims he’s holding out genuine hope that the brilliant midfielder’s hopes of tackling Collingwood are still alive.

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Josh Kelly was injured early in the clash with Sydney on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images
Josh Kelly was injured early in the clash with Sydney on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images
Kelly spent the rest of the match in a tracksuit. Picture: Getty Images
Kelly spent the rest of the match in a tracksuit. Picture: Getty Images

The club will issue a definitive statement on Kelly’s prospects today but Cameron at least has taken the view that it might be worth rolling the dice on the game-breaker for such a massive occasion.

“I think Josh has had his scans and they’ve come back OK,” said Cameron.

“It’s a bit of a wait and see on that. I’m sure he’ll do everything right. I ran into him today and he’s in good spirits, walking around quite well.

“He’ll give it a red-hot crack to get up on the weekend, that’s for sure.

“It’s a finals game, do-or-die, so who knows what is going to happen.”

GWS desperately needs Kelly’s class to help it beat Collingwood on the weekend. Picture: Getty Images
GWS desperately needs Kelly’s class to help it beat Collingwood on the weekend. Picture: Getty Images

Meanwhile, the Giants were yesterday reluctant to back Collingwood President Eddie McGuire’s comments slamming the AFL scheduling.

The winner of GWS and the Magpies will have just six days’ recovery before taking on Richmond in a Friday night preliminary final.

AFL house has responded that its priority was to give the No.1 side Richmond the opportunity for a longer lead-in to the grand final, should they make it.

McGuire is filthy at the potential impact on the Magpies.

“That is an anomaly that seems to me to be totally ridiculous,” McGuire said on Triple M.

“It makes zero sense whatsoever.”

Premiership great David King agreed, describing the scheduling as a “total cock-up.”

Jeremy Cameron says the Giants aren’t concerning themselves with the length of break between finals and just want to beat the Pies on the weekend. Picture: Getty Images
Jeremy Cameron says the Giants aren’t concerning themselves with the length of break between finals and just want to beat the Pies on the weekend. Picture: Getty Images

However, the Giants have taken the more humble view that finishing seventh gave them no right to kick-up a fuss over the fixtures set out for them.

“I’ve heard about it. It’s always interesting. It’s always this time of year, things are blown up a bit,” said Cameron.

“We got to concentrate on winning first before we start worrying about when we’re going to fly back, where we’re staying the night.

“I know we’re a pretty resilient group, we’ll put up with anything. We travel every second week somewhere, just like West Coast do and a lot of other teams do.

“Our focus is solely on training well this week, going out there and playing on the MCG in front of an awesome crowd, giving our best and hopefully coming home with the win.”

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/teams/gws/gws-to-make-call-on-injured-star-josh-kellys-fitness-for-weekend-semi-final-clash-with-collingwood/news-story/0c3e2af4a4bc1f03fc822bc394b96c85