Round 17 AFL injury news: Get the latest on who is hurt at your club
Richmond have been hurt by injuries to Tom Lynch and Ivan Soldo but several premiership Tigers are closing in on a return. Meanwhile, an in-form forward is in line to replace their sidelined talls.
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Mabior Chol’s five-goal scratch match performance on Saturday will cement his return against Adelaide as the Tigers prepare to play premiership stars David Astbury and Shane Edwards.
But the Tigers will still have to assess whether to redeploy emerging defender Noah Balta through the finals as they digest the massive loss of first ruckman Ivan Soldo.
Richmond’s mauling of Geelong set up their top-four hopes but with fellow contenders West Coast and Geelong facing lowly rivals in Round 18, the Tigers will have to beat Adelaide to progress to a qualifying final.
Richmond is hopeful Tom Lynch might still return for the first final after the only hamstring injury of his career, with Soldo out for the season with a torn ACL and medial ligament.
Chol was exceptional playing up forward against Geelong on Saturday in a mixed format with some 20 minute and 12-minute quarters.
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Astbury (knee surgery) also got through his return game without injury in a contest where Josh Caddy also played after a lingering hamstring injury.
Chol is the obvious replacement for Lynch, but would also be expected to take his turn in the ruck.
That would leave Jack Riewoldt in his 2017 role playing as the sole key forward with a serious of small and medium-sized forwards around him.
Shane Edwards emerges from the transition hub on Tuesday and is expected to play against Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
He would likely force out a midfielder like Jack Ross, who returned to the side against Geelong and won 13 possessions.
But if David Astbury trains strongly and plays it would mean a tall defence including Balta, Dylan Grimes, David Astbury and mid-sizer Nick Vlastuin.
In 2017 and 2018 the Tigers regularly played Alex Rance, Grimes, Astbury, Nathan Broad and Vlastuin but might choose to use Balta elsewhere at times.
His brilliant leap and athleticism might help in the ruck with premiership ruckman Toby Nankervis a lion-hearted player who has at times struggled against high-leaping rucks like Nic Naitanui.
Coach Damien Hardwick admitted on Friday after the brilliant victory over Geelong despite strong depth he wasn’t sure how the club was going to cope without 204cm ruckman Soldo.
Balta has played as a pure defender this year and doesn’t have a hitout but played at least some of every game in the ruck in his 12 contests last season.
The Tigers could alternatively play Nankervis one-out in the ruck with Chol playing forward in Round 18, then allow a midfielder to play as the Shaun Grigg-style second ruckman.
Horrific extent of Tiger’s injury revealed
Richmond premiership ruckman Ivan Soldo faces a 12-month stint on the sidelines after scans confirmed the club’s worst-held fears.
Soldo is expected to return to Melbourne for surgery after scans this afternoon which confirmed he had ruptured both the anterior cruciate ligament and medial ligament in his left knee.
The injury occurred in a marking contest during the second quarter of the Tigers’ win over Geelong on Friday night.
A 2019 premiership player, Soldo has assumed the role as Richmond’s No.1 ruckman over the past two seasons.
He had played 14 of a possible 16 games this year, averaging 20.9 hitouts (6.1 to advantage), 7.7 disposals, 1.6 marks and 2.9 score involvements.
“Ivan has had another outstanding season, and we commend him for his 14 AFL games this year. As a team, we’re disappointed for him to sustain a long-term injury,” Richmond football performance manager Tim Livingstone said.
“As we always do with our people, in tough times we rally around them like family, and we’ll continue to support Ivan in the coming days and months throughout his recovery journey.
“He’s a wonderful player for us, but more importantly, he’s a wonderful person to have as part of our club. We wish him well in his recovery, and we will be with him every step of the way.”
YOUNG NORTH TOWER SENT FOR SURGERY
North Melbourne ruckman Tristan Xerri has left the team’s Queensland hub to return to Melbourne for shoulder surgery.
The 21-year-old hurt his shoulder in the Kangaroos’ Round 13 loss to Collingwood and the club had been hopeful he could return before season’s end after rehabilitating the injury.
But the Kangaroos have decided surgery is the best option to ensure he is fit for the start of the pre-season.
“We’ve done a lot of work with Tristan since the injury, to strengthen the shoulder and surrounding areas, and had hoped he’d be in a position to return for one or two more games,” North’s general manager of football Brady Rawlings said.
“But we now feel the best course of action is to send him home a little earlier for a minor procedure.
“This will allow him to be fully fit and ready for an unimpeded pre-season, and seek more opportunities to play next season.”
Xerri played four matches in his debut season for the Kangaroos this year, recently signing a new two-year deal to keep him at the club until at least the end of 2022.
North Melbourne play West Coast in their final-round clash at Metricon Stadium on Thursday night.
DEMONS’ FINALS BID HIT BY INJURY BLOW
Melbourne midfielder Angus Brayshaw’s season is over, returning home from the club’s Queensland hub to undergo foot surgery.
Brayshaw suffered a foot injury during the Demons’ loss to Sydney in Round 15, with a recent scan indicating it was worse than first thought.
“He’ll be out for two to three months of rehabilitation, so that obviously rules him out for the rest of the season, which is disappointing but we need to get that done,” Goodwin said on Friday.
He had a foot scan and we had a look at the area and it was still sore.
“He’s had a weight bearing scan which has identified some ligaments under the bottom of the foot which need to be operated on.
“It’s one of those things where the most you investigate, the more significant the injury was.
“He wasn’t going to get back at all this year, so the option then was to have surgery and unfortunately he’ll be leaving us to have that done.”
McGOVERN ADDS TO EAGLES’ INJURY CRISIS
Star West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern won’t play until the finals after suffering a hamstring injury against St Kilda at the Gabba.
The Eagles’ premiership hopes could hinge on getting a host of their star players back for the finals, with the bye between the end of the home-and-away season and the finals providing some much needed extra recovery time.
McGovern would be hoping to return for the Eagles’ first final, but all that depends on the severity of his injury, which scans will determine.
He sat downcast on the bench in his tracksuit throughout the second half, but was animated in his support for his team at halftime.
Simpson said the Eagles would now sweat on scans to determine the severity of McGovern’s injury.
“We have lost McGovern, so we have to work through that,” Simpson said.
“It didn’t look like a twinge. We will find out in the next few days.”
West Coast’s injury list has almost reached a crisis point now.
They went into Thursday night’s game missing their entire 2018 premiership midfield with Dom Sheed (hamstring), Luke Shuey (hamstring), Elliot Yeo (osteitis pubis) and Jack Redden (thumb). Lewis Jetta (calf), Mark Hutchings (hamstring) and Brendon Ah Chee (finger) are also missing.