Joel Selwood, Rory Sloane and Michael Hurley in a race against time to be ready for finals
WILL the Cats play Joel Selwood? Has Stevie J done enough for one more chance? Will the Eagles risk Nic Nat? See all the big selection worries for every club ahead of the finals.
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WE are less than a week out from the AFL finals and every club has some major selection headaches heading into the biggest time of the year.
Will the Cats risk Joel Selwood against the Tigers?
Where will Josh Caddy slot in for Richmond?
Is Rory Sloane actually a chance of getting up for the Crows?
We have taken a look at all the big selection issues for every club ahead of the opening week of finals.
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ADELAIDE
THE week started with good news that captain Taylor Walker (toe) and defender Daniel Talia (ankle) will return for the qualifying final against GWS.
Then a Rory Sloane bombshell rocked Don Pyke’s selection plans.
Sloane had surgery on Tuesday to remove his appendix and medical experts are divided on whether he can recover in time to face the Giants next Thursday night.
Kyle Hartigan and Paul Seedsman came in for Walker and Talia in Round 23 and Seedsman did his chances of holding his spot no harm with 25 disposals against the Eagles.
Adding to the head scratching at match committee, Hugh Greenwood is also available after he was left out of the last home-and-away game to manage his workload.
Alex Keath is expected to pass concussion tests but could be an unlucky omission.
ESSENDON
ESSENDON remains confident its trio of injured stars will be fit to tackle Sydney next Saturday despite only one taking to the training track on Friday morning.
Michael Hurley (calf), Cale Hooker (leg) and Orazio Fantasia (hamstring) remain under injury clouds for the club’s elimination final with the Swans but the Bombers say they are all progressing well with their recoveries.
Fantasia was the only one of the trio out on the track on Friday morning and was on light running duties away from the main playing group.
Hurley was off-site for an appointment and will instead train on Saturday, while the Bombers are still taking a cautious approach with Hooker who looms as the biggest concern.
Hurley has progressed well and increased his running this week while Fantasia lifted his running on Friday and had “no more soreness in that hamstring”.
Essendon football manager Rob Kerr said the club expected all three would take on the Swans in the club’s elimination final next Saturday.
GEELONG
Will they or won’t they?
That is the biggest question for the Cats ahead of the opening weekend of finals.
Joel Selwood has done everything in his power to be back for the club’s qualifying final against Richmond following syndesmosis surgery.
If he is to take on the Tigers, Selwood would have only missed 32 days with the injury — an AFL record.
The previous quickest return was Bulldog Tom Liberatore who came back for an elimination final in six weeks last year.
The Cats have been warned that if Selwood tears an ankle ligament with a premature return, his year is over and he might sustain permanent damage.
That may force the club to be more careful with Selwood.
If the Cats can beat Richmond without Selwood, the Geelong skipper will get an extra two weeks of recovery time.
The Cats are likely to make a final call on Selwood at the last minute.
GWS
Steve Johnson is the elephant in the room for Leon Cameron.
The 34-year-old played possibly his worst game for the Giants against Geelong on Saturday night with a season-low eight disposals.
But he’s done it so many times in September for the Cats and last year his one final for GWS was very good.
Possible replacements Matt deBoer and Harry Himmelberg were both playing well before being dropped last week.
The other issue the Giants face is they looked top-heavy against Geelong with Shane Mumford, Rory Lobb, Jon Patton and Jeremy Cameron. Their best game this year was against Melbourne in Round 20 when Patton and Cameron were both out.
PORT ADELAIDE
Ken Hinkley has to figure out what to do with Port Adelaide’s defence.
Tom Jonas has another match of his two-game suspension to serve but veteran Matthew Broadbent (ankle) is available. Jackson Trengove has been playing SANFL along with Jack Hombsch, but his season is over after hip surgery.
Does Hinkley trust youngsters Tom Clurey and Dougal Howard to hold Eagles stars Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling?
The Port Magpies play a qualifying final against Sturt on Saturday and Hinkley will get a good look at a number of players to get some clarity on his defenders and a forward to work with Charlie Dixon.
RICHMOND
With almost the entire list to pick from, Damien Hardwick and his assistants have several tough decisions to make for the qualifying final against Geelong:
TOWNSEND OR CADDY OR GRAHAM?
Josh Caddy is likely to return after hurting his hamstring in the first five minutes against the Cats in Round 21. His replacement was Jacob Townsend but how can you leave him out after 11 goals in two weeks? Jack Graham might get the chop but he hasn’t done much wrong in his first two AFL games, laying 18 tackles and kicking two goals. Can Caddy and Townsend play in the same forward line? No easy answers here.
NATHAN BROAD OR JAYDEN SHORT?
Broad seemed to have established himself in the side with a run of seven straight games since Round 17 but had some very wobbly moments against the Saints. Jayden Short was a fixture for the first half of the season and has been playing well in the VFL. They both play at halfback. Short is quicker and more damaging on the rebound. Broad is 15cm taller. It might come down to likely match-ups.
IS BEN GRIFFITHS A CHANCE?
Pundits have been saying all year the Tigers need a second tall forward target and now they have one in the wings with Griffiths working back into form and fitness in the VFL after sitting out most of the year. But is this the right time to mess with what’s been a winning formula? Hardwick might have bad memories of rushing Griffiths back in for the elimination final against North Melbourne two years ago.
JASON CASTAGNA OR SHAI BOLTON?
“George” Castagna has played 22 games this year as a key member of the Tigers’ “three amigoes” forward set-up. But his last month has been extremely lean, reaping just nine kicks and no goals in his past four matches. That form slump has coincided with a sustained run of outstanding VFL performances from first-year draftee Bolton, including a 19-disposal and nine tackle game against Coburg last weekend. “Really broke the game open with his run and carry and his forward pressure was outstanding, leading to several goals for the team,” development coach Xavier Clarke told the Tigers website. A like-for-like swap?
SYDNEY
The Swans’ biggest selection issues are their rucks.
Kurt Tippett and Callum Sinclair both hurt their ankles against Carlton at the weekend but are expected to be fit and available to take on Essendon.
Sam Naismith will also be available but can they play all three big men? Sinclair might be the unlucky one to miss out with Tippett and Naismith getting the nod.
Dan Hannebery (hip) and Tom Papley (knee) will both come back into the team, with Harry Cunningham and Nic Newman likely to miss out.
WEST COAST
Surely not. Could the West Coast Eagles really think about picking Nic Naitanui for the finals?
At this stage, it is a no. But there is no doubt 2017 might not be over for the star ruckman.
Naitanui says he doesn’t want to come in and be “some sort of hero” but … give the people what they want Nic Nat!
“I don’t really want to come in and try to be some sort of hero, underdone when there’s someone who is fresh and has been playing some good footy all year — having to jeopardise their spot,” Naitanui told Channel 7 during the week.
“I’ll be realistic with it as well and see how I progress through training over the next couple of weeks.
“I haven’t ruled it out. If that spot does arise ... I’ll put my hand up to play.”
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