AFL pre-season injury news: All the latest updates from around the competition
GWS will be without one of their biggest names for the opening weeks of the AFL season in a major blow to the club. Get all the pre-season injury news here.
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Tom Green will miss the start of the season for the GWS Giants after suffering a calf strain during the club’s intra-club hitout last Friday.
Green came from the ground early in the match at Giants HQ and was seen feeling at his left calf. The club was hopeful it was just a cork, a problem he had dealt with earlier in the week after he appeared on the club’s podcast with ice around the same calf saying he received a knock at training.
However, scans have revealed the 24-year-old will miss four to six weeks with a calf strain and the prognosis matches how despondent he looked after the incident. With a bye in round two, it means that the earliest Green is likely to return is in round three against Hawthorn in Launceston.
It’s a major blow to the Giants’ midfield given Green had the most Brownlow Medal votes at the club in 2024. He averaged 30.8 disposals a game in 2024 and was a key leader at centre bounces.
For the club’s first two matches against Collingwood and Melbourne, Green’s injury will open the door for young players like James Leake and Harry Rowston, or a player seeking more opportunities like Xavier O’Halloran, to spend more time around the stoppages.
The casualty ward continues to grow for the club in pre-season with Sam Taylor now in concussion protocols following an incident in the same intra-club match.
The key defender was collected in a collision that involved Jesse Hogan and Aaron Cadman, before also hitting the ground hard. He got to his feet but had to be assisted from the field, and will sit out Friday’s practice match against the Swans at least.
Given Taylor’s concussion history, where he had to be carted off the ground following a scary collision against St Kilda in Canberra last year, the Giants are likely to be overly cautious in his return.
Callum Brown will also be unavailable for the start of the season after suffering a hamstring injury last week at training. His return is also slated to be between four to six weeks as he looks to force his way back into a star-studded GWS forward line.
In good news for the Giants, Stephen Coniglio’s return is still tracking well as he looks to be ready for opening round against Collingwood.
While the inaugural Giant won’t play this week’s match against the Swans after two major off-season surgeries, he is hopeful of playing against Carlton in Canberra on February 28.
Ryan Angwin (ankle) and Josh Fahey (foot) are the other two players on the club’s longer-term injury list and are expected to be out for approximately six weeks.
NO. 1 PICK RACING THE CLOCK FOR TIGERS’ DATE WITH CARLTON
Richmond No. 1 draft pick Sam Lalor is in doubt to make his debut in round 1 after suffering a fractured jaw in the dying moments of Monday’s scratch match against West Coast.
Lalor booted two goals against the Eagles but was taken from the field with less than two minutes to play after copping a knock in the head during a marking collision.
The young Tiger was concussed and would not have been able to play in February 26’s Charity Shield game against Collingwood, but further scans revealed the jaw injury.
He will have surgery with the hope he can recover in time for round 1, with the March 13 game in just over three weeks.
Lalor was pushed into the marking contest by Eagle Reuben Ginbey in an action that has not forced action from the match review panel in previous years, but is being monitored closely by the AFL.
The MRO will look over the match simulation matches when they finish, with the final games to be staged on Sunday.
Lalor’s setback comes as defender Luke Trainor is expected to be fit to play in the Charity Shield match as he builds up fitness following some soreness.
The No.21 pick missed the trip to Perth this week and has been in and out of training in recent weeks but should be available to face the Pies.
Jonty Faull (pick 14) has been nursed through summer with a back issue and is also unlikely to play in the senior side to start the year.
Harry Armstrong (pick 23) missed the West Coast game with illness, while No. 7 pick Josh Smillie said last week he would play against Collingwood and push a case for round 1 as he gets past a hamstring injury.
Forward Taj Hotton (pick 12) will not play in the first half of the season as he recovers from an ACL injury.
The Tigers are determined to blood as much youth as they can throughout 2025 as they launch into a drastic list overhaul, led by the 2024 draft haul.
Veteran Tom Lynch is expected to play against Collingwood as he clears concussion protocols and should like up in round 1.
DOGS DEALT ANOTHER INJURY BLOW AS KEY SUNS STILL IN DOUBT
The Western Bulldogs’ pre-season injury woes have hit a new low with small forward Cody Weightman set to miss the first half of the year through a knee setback.
Weightman, 24, will undergo surgery on a bipartite patella, a false joint in the kneecap bone, and will be sidelined for up to three months.
Weightman’s latest injury follows a string of setbacks to his groin and elbow in recent seasons.
Weightman kicked 27 goals in 2024 which was bettered by only Aaron Naughton and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan — who will miss the start of the season as part of his flexible training program.
The Dogs will be without five of its starters in Round 1, with Adam Treloar (calf), Ugle-Hagan, Jason Johannisen (hamstring), Liam Jones (hamstring) and now Weightman all sitting out.
Captain Marcus Bontempelli last week backed Weightman as one of the forwards to deliver in Ugle-Hagan’s absence.
“The team might look different from the (elimination) final last year on multiple fronts and that’s just the evolution of the game, the evolution of players you want to put their hand up,” Bontempelli said.
“That’s going to be one thing at this point that’s going to be different, I don’t really see it changing too much just yet from my perspective.
“I am pretty confident with Sam, Aaron, Cody and the other guys around there to have a pretty strong influence.
“It shouldn’t look too different to previous years.”
Western Bulldogs have room for an SSP addition and are tipped to be favouring former Gold Coast Sun big man Brayden Crossley.
SUNS MIDFIELDERS UNDER INJURY CLOUDS
Gold Coast midfielder Sam Flanders finally has some positive momentum in his battle with a back injury after completing a light training session on Monday.
The star Sun had been consigned to a training bike while battling a bulging disc in his back that had threatened his availability for Opening Round.
But the 23-year-old was on his feet at training on Monday in a positive sign that he is on the improve with just over three weeks to go until Opening Round.
Last week Suns coach Damien Hardwick told this masthead the club would not rush Flanders back before he was “100 per cent” meaning he almost certainly will not feature in Thursday’s practice matches against Brisbane and Collingwood. But Flanders’ return to running at least puts him in the frame for selection early in the season.
Meanwhile vice-captain Touk Miller also appears unlikely to play on Thursday against the Lions and Magpies as the club takes a cautious approach with his knee.
Miller was sent for scans earlier this month and has been on a modified training program ever since.
He trained on Monday but it was a light session with predominantly stationary drills.
Tuesday’s session will give a greater indication of his fitness.
Gold Coast will host Essendon on March 8 for Opening Round.
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