AFL Round 9: Injuries and selection news from around the league
North Melbourne’s injury crisis has reached such damning levels, the club’s VFL team finished a player short at the weekend.
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North Melbourne’s injury crisis deepened on Monday night as speedster Jaidyn Stephenson had surgery for a small scaphoid fracture.
That leaves the winless Kangaroos with at least 14 players on the sidelines and unavailable for Saturday’s game against second-bottom team Hawthorn.
Stephenson kicked two goals against his old side Collingwood last Saturday and was one of the Kangaroos’ best players.
But the 22-year-old suffered a hairline wrist fracture in the 18-point loss to the Magpies, which will now keep him out until at least after the club’s Round 12 bye.
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North Melbourne was competitive against Collingwood last Saturday, which gave rise to hope that the club was a chance to win its first game of the season against the Hawks in Launceston.
But Kangaroos coach David Noble faces a tough task in trying to lift the Roos to their first win since Round 9 last year — and his first win as coach — given the players already ruled out.
Stephenson and Aiden Bonar (ankle) have now been added to the long list of casualties.
The other Kangaroos on the sidelines at the moment — some of whom are among the club’s best players — are Robbie Tarrant (kidney), Jed Anderson (ankle), Jared Polec (hamstring), Aidan Corr (foot), Luke McDonald (pectoral), Will Walker (thumb), Flynn Perez (knee), Matt McGuinness (foot), Patrick Walker (hip), Charlie Comben (leg), Dom Tyson (calf) and Kyron Hayden (hamstring).
Trent Dumont (calf) could make his return to AFL football this week after missing all of the season to date. He had 24 disposals in his second game back in the VFL.
3QT: NMFC 4.3.27 - SPS 17.7.109
— North Melbourne VFL (@NorthVFL) May 8, 2021
We're held scoreless in the third. Josh Clayton and Will Walker are both done for the day.
Tristan Xerri is up to 23 disposals for the game, while Trent Dumont has a game-high 8 tackles.
Goals: 2 Speight, M Walker, Clayton
The Kangaroos’ VFL side also has been hard hit with injury. They were so undermanned on the weekend that they were forced to play with 17 players in the final quarter of their clash against Southport after Will Walker, Mat Walker, Ben Speight, Flynn Appleby and Josh Clayton unable to finish the game.
VFL coach Leigh Adams said the chaos on the interchange bench was something he had never experienced before.
“We had absolute carnage yesterday … at one stage there for about 10 minutes we only had 16 players and we played basically the whole second half one down. It was unbelievable,” Adams said.
BOMBERS, BULLDOGS STARS SIDELINED
— Rebecca Williams
Essendon will be without star forward Jake Stringer for up to a month with a hamstring injury, while Western Bulldogs star Lachie Hunter has undergone surgery on a fractured hand.
The Bombers confirmed on Monday Stringer had suffered a “standard hamstring strain” against Greater Western Sydney and would be sidelined for 3-4 weeks.
Stringer was subbed out of the game in the third term of the two-point loss.
The 27-year-old has been in strong form for the Bombers, kicking 12 goals from his six games this season.
And Hunter is facing an as yet unspecified time on the sidelines after having surgery on Monday to repair a fracture in his hand.
Scans post-game confirmed Hunter had fractured one of the small bones in his hand and surgery was required to stabilise the fracture.
The Bulldogs said Hunter’s return to play timelines would be confirmed in the coming days.
Coach Luke Beveridge revealed after Sunday’s win over Carlton Hunter had played the second half of the clash with the injury.
“It was a pretty determined, tough effort to get through the game,” Beveridge said.
“It’s in the fourth ‘met’ (metacarpal), the outside one, which isn’t a significant thing, but they sting, they hurt, and he had a huge last quarter, Lachie.”
PIES DEALY MAJOR INJURY SETBACK
– Rebecca Williams
Collingwood has been dealt a major injury blow with defender Jeremy Howe requiring surgery on his hamstring.
The injury is set to sideline him until late in the season.
The 30-year-old will have surgery to remove scar tissue on the right hamstring he injured in Round 5 against West Coast at Optus Stadium.
As he neared a return to the senior team, Howe felt “a grumble” in his hamstring during a weekend training session.
After meeting with specialists on Monday, it was decided surgery was needed.
“Jeremy trained exceptionally well last Thursday and all the signs were that he would return against Sydney this week,” Collingwood general manager of football Graham Wright said.
“But on the weekend he felt a grumble and we decided to have him re-examined today.
“Jeremy is understandably disappointed. He put so much work into recovering from a serious knee injury in 2020 and to lose a significant part of another season hurts.”
In more injury news Collingwood will be without Jordan Roughead and Nathan Murphy against Sydney this week after both suffered head knocks in the breakthrough win against North Melbourne.
VINEY HAS ROAD MAP FOR RETURN
— Jon Ralph
Jack Viney says he is only weeks away from an AFL return as he deals with the trickle-down effects of surgery to release his troublesome plantar fascia.
The Demons midfield star has missed enough games with foot issues that when it was revealed he had a bone stress reaction in his big toe the Demons faithful were rightfully worried.
But Viney said on Monday at the Big Freeze MND launch he was reassured that he had already undergone identical issues with his right foot.
The Demons vice-captain says summer surgery on the plantar fascia always had the potential for stress-related issues, but the surprise was they took until Round 7 to emerge.
It means Viney has a road-map ahead for a return in coming weeks that will put him back on the field in time for Round 13.
“I will be cherry ripe for the Big Freeze, but in terms of when I come back, not 100 per cent sure, but it’s tracking well,” he said.
“I have been through the same injury on the other foot, we released the plantar fascia and it changes a few things biomechanically and you end up with stress reactions through your bones, so I started the whole process on my left foot and there is always a risk to have some stress reaction pop up. We thought we got away with it and it just crept up on us. But we will get it right and be out there for the back half of the season.
“The type of injury I had … when you get rid of some of that support your foot loads differently, but I will go through the due course of healing.
“I will run (on Tuesday) and just gradually load. The first week was letting the bone heal and then we gradually start to load again. I am doing stuff like pool running.”
Viney signed a five-year deal last October, the start of a spate of re-signings that have included Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver, Max Gawn and Christian Salem.
He said the players could see the club’s vision and window of future success.
“I think everyone knows the journey we are on as a football club, they see the bright future with the coaches and playing group we have. It’s certainly why I stayed on and I am sure it’s why the other guys made the same decision.”
HEENEY HOPES TO FACE PIES
— Marc McGowan
Sydney forward Isaac Heeney will aim to prove his fitness at the Swans’ main training session on Thursday in a bid to face Collingwood two days later.
Heeney sat out of Sydney’s nine-point defeat to Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday night with soreness related to the right ankle he had multiple surgeries on since last year.
The 24-year-old star told The Daily Telegraph on the eve of the season he would be sore after every game in 2021, something coach John Longmire is acutely aware of.
Heeney plans to do some running on Tuesday before ramping up his training on Thursday.
“We’re hoping he pulls up OK and will be available,” Longmire said.
“It’s a case of sometimes (Heeney’s ankle) just gets jammed up a little bit and takes a bit longer to recover. There are times he can feel it during a game and it pulls up OK and takes a day or two to recover.
“This took a bit longer last week, and it’s only natural it was going to happen like that at times.
“It meant he had the week off – it gives his (broken) hand another week to feel a bit better as well, but primarily last week was about his ankle.”
A decision will be made later in the week on whether fellow forward Lance Franklin plays or not, after he was kept scoreless for just the fifth time in his 304-game AFL career.
Longmire said the fact the Swans were hosting the Magpies at the SCG would not impact their call on Franklin, who is likely to be a week-to-week proposition for the rest of his career.
Sam Reid (calf) remains at least a fortnight off and is yet to resume training with the main group.
Greater Western Sydney’s injury year from hell has continued, with key defender Lachie Keeffe suffering an ACL rupture in the final minute of the Giants’ narrow win over Essendon.
Keeffe’s setback is to his right knee again, the same one he sustained an ACL tear on in 2012 while playing for his former club Collingwood.
The Giants’ head of medical, Cullan Ball, said Keeffe would travel to Melbourne on Wednesday to see renowned surgeon Dr Julian Feller before undergoing a knee reconstruction this week.
“It’s obviously devastating news for Lachie and we’re throwing our arms around him,” Ball said.
“He was injured very late in the game and assessed following the match.
“Further assessment on Sunday indicated there may be an issue with the ACL and subsequent scans revealed Lachie will require a knee reconstruction.”
GWS could regain Jesse Hogan and Matt Buntine for Saturday’s clash against back-to-back reigning premier Richmond at Marvel Stadium.
However, forward Jeremy Finlayson is set to miss the Tigers showdown with suspension after his elbow to the head of Bomber Zach Merrett.
CATS SAY CLARK PART OF LONG-TERM PLANS
— Jon Ralph
Geelong says Jordan Clark’s long-term future is at the Cats as he prepares for his likely recall against St Kilda on Friday night.
Clark was brilliant in the VFL on Thursday night with 29 possessions and 165 SuperCoach points after being dropped for a second time this year and starting two games as the medical sub.
Geelong is assessing a lower leg injury to midfielder Sam Simpson, while Luke Dahlhaus battled a back/ribs injury that left him battling to breathe properly in the win over Richmond.
Clark was mentioned in dispatches during the Jeremy Cameron trade last year after being starved of opportunities, but was adamant he wanted to remain at the club.
Geelong football boss Simon Lloyd said despite the lack of senior opportunities, Clark knew exactly where he stood after 18 games in his 2019 debut season.
“He has a great attitude and he knows it’s competitive for spots,” Lloyd said.
“He works very closely with our senior players. He has a great relationship with Joel Selwood and we have seen him mature a lot over the last few years, so we see him here for a long period.
“He is a young man and wants to play, but I was at Collingwood when Dane Swan was regularly playing reserves, as was Heath Shaw, so it’s only a matter of players refining their game. He is really open to learning and is a great character.”
Lloyd said the club was still working on recruiting boss Stephen Wells’ future as he considers whether to step back to allow the likes of Andrew Mackie to step up in the list management department.
Collingwood will need a list manager with Ned Guy having moved on, but Wells has expressed no interest so far in that role.
“It’s business as usual. He is continuing to work as our list manager and head of recruiting,” Lloyd said.
“We will work with him as to what the future looks like but he certainly hasn’t expressed any interest in going elsewhere. We are happy to work with Stephen on whether he might like to do the same thing he is doing or whether he upskills others in the organisation and we are having an open discussion about it.”
ARE SAINTS OVER INJURY CURSE?
— Jon Ralph
St Kilda’s injury list has shrunk to just three players as Brett Ratten considers a Saints debut for James Frawley against Geelong’s twin towers on Friday night.
St Kilda jumped to a 4-4 win loss record with a gritty win over Gold Coast, in which the Saints kicked the only four goals of the final term.
Former Melbourne and Hawthorn defender Frawley played VFL for Sandringham last week after hamstring tendon surgery but the VFL affiliate had a bye this weekend.
Ratten indicated Frawley was a big chance to return after the club’s win over Gold Coast given the Saints will have to deal with Jeremy Cameron, Tom Hawkins and Gary Rohan.
Seb Ross missed the St Kilda game after his wife Marnie welcomed twins on his 28th birthday.
Saints co-captain Jarryn Geary will make his return in the VFL this weekend from a pre-season broken leg and ankle bone spur which delayed his start to 2021.
Ratten said after the gutsy victory Dan Hannebery was making strong progress, with just Ben Patton (leg, season) and Jade Gresham (achilles, season) on the injury list with the ex-Sydney midfielder.
“I wouldn’t say we are there. We need to finetune some things in our game but we are starting to get some personnel back. (Paddy) Ryder and (Rowan) Marshall and co, and next week Frawley will be available and Ross will come back into the team. Geary will play reserves, so we are starting to get a few back.
“Hannebery is progressing well and taking small steps. If we can keep building momentum, it’s a marathon so we will lose some soldiers but we need to replace them with quality as well.”
The Saints have won both of their games with both Marshall and Ryder back in the side after injury.
And the club’s recruiting, which was criticised in recent weeks, was validated by Brad Crouch, Jack Higgins and Ryder kicking last-term goals.
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