AFL 2022: Carlton defender Caleb Marchbank to return in Round 13

Carlton defender Caleb Marchbank has overcome three years of injury hell to make his AFL return on Friday. See the special moment Michael Voss told players and how they reacted.

Tom McDonald was unable to get up for the clash with the Swans and it’s since been revealed he will miss a chunk of the season. Picture: Michael Klein

Carlton’s backline will receive a shock boost on Friday night when Caleb Marchbank plays his first game in more than 1000 days.

Coach Michael Voss told players after training on Tuesday night that the luckless defender would line up against Essendon, describing it as another “special moment” in their season of resurgence.

The addition will ease the pain of Jacob Weitering’s six-week shoulder injury as the Blues fight to reclaim their place in the top four.

WATCH BELOW: THE MOMENT VOSS TOLD CARLTON PLAYERS

Marchbank, 25, has not played since 2019 and this week’s MCG blockbuster will come 1069 days after his last appearance.

Marchbank returned to the VFL recently but has been back in full training for eight weeks.

Teammates mobbed Marchbank when Voss told them: “Marchy, you’re playing this week”.

Marchbank suffered a fractured neck and then ruptured his ACL in a pre-season game last year.

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The 193cm defender has had the past three years of his career wiped through injury.

But Marchbank, drafted at No. 6 in 2014, showed he would still be a force when he collected 10 disposals in a quarter against Frankston last month.

Former Greater Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron rated Marchbank so highly that his defection in 2016 stung more than plenty of the club’s high-profile departures.

With Liam Jones retired, Weitering and Mitch McGovern injured many feared the Blues could be exposed defensively and slip back to the pack.

But they replenished by taking Sam Durdin in the mid-season draft and now have Marchbank ready to rock at AFL level.

So, what's all this about then?

🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲

— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) June 7, 2022

BLUE TAKES LEAVE OF ABSENCE OVER ‘SENSITIVE’ ISSUES

— Scott Gullan

Carlton defender Tom Williamson has taken an indefinite leave of absence as he deals with a number of personal issues.

The Blues released a statement which said Williamson’s problems were of a “sensitive nature” and had been something he’d been dealing with for several months.

Williamson, 23, was Carlton’s medical substitute in Round 1 against Richmond but hasn’t been seen in the senior side since.

He played in Carlton’s VFL side last week collecting 22 possessions and laying six tackles across the wing.

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Tom Williamson has taken an indefinite leave of absence. Picture: Michael Klein

The club’s statement said: “The Carlton Football Club can confirm that player Tom Williamson has taken a period of indefinite leave of absence.

“The Club has been supporting Williamson over several months, who has been dealing with a number of personal issues.

“It has been agreed by all parties that it would be best that Williamson takes extended time away from the football club, to focus on his well being and ultimately address his personal issues.

“The wellbeing and the health and safety of all remains the Club’s priority and due to the sensitive nature of this matter, the Club is not in a position to provide any further comment at this stage.”

Williamson has played 44 games since being drafted with pick No. 61 in the 2016 national draft.

Hardwick’s big dilemma at Tigers selection

— Marc McGowan

Noah Balta will likely fill Richmond’s Tom Lynch-sized void in attack in his expected return from injury against “rampaging” Port Adelaide on Thursday night.

The 194cm swingman has oscillated all season long, even playing as a back-up ruckman at times, but he was preparing to settle in defence before his and Lynch’s respective hamstring setbacks.

Balta’s missed the Tigers’ past two matches, then had the mid-season bye to recover further, but Lynch will sit out one more game, given the injury is to the same leg as the injury he sustained in the pre-season.

Kane Lambert (hip) and Marlion Pickett (migraine) are also in contention for the Power clash at the MCG, which presents Richmond with the opportunity to return to the top eight.

Coach Damien Hardwick conceded on Monday the Tigers went in too short in attack last start against Sydney, leaving too much for veteran forward Jack Riewoldt to do.

The dilemma for Richmond is that Port Adelaide has an army of tall forwards, with Ken Hinkley previously indicating he was willing to play all of Charlie Dixon, Todd Marshall, Jeremy Finlayson and Mitch Georgiades.

“We’re happy with how the backs have been performing down there and Noah’s coming back in, but he’s got the capacity to play forward,” Hardwick said.

“The good thing about it is he adds a level of flexibility – he can play forward and back and ruck – so we’ll see how that pans out (on Monday) afternoon.”

Noah Balta is set to return against Port Adelaide. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

The Tigers are back in the finals mix after a concerning 2-4 start, but Hardwick said they were left feeling “sour” after coughing up a five-goal lead, and a potential fifth win on the trot, against the Swans.

Those mid-match lapses were a recurring theme of Richmond’s opening half to the season.

“If you had have said to me, after the start we had, that we’d be 6-5 at the break, I’d be OK with it, but wouldn’t be happy with it,” he said.

“A lot of our KPI indicators – time in front, quarters won – all those sorts of things are up in the top four, we just haven’t got the result. We’ve had some really, really bad quarters in games.

“It’s cost us probably three to four games, in theory. Other sides will point to similar things. We’re doing a lot of things right, but unfortunately, when things aren’t going well for us, we’re getting scored against too heavily.

“We did a bit of work on that over the course of the break and hopefully we start to reap the benefits of that knowledge and work that we put in, over the back-end of the year.”

Hardwick said Lambert was unlikely to ever be fully fit again in his AFL career, but the Tigers’ medical staff wanted him to be as close to it as possible before he returned.

Luckless Bomber cops injury during bye’

– Jon Ralph

Essendon has been hit with another injury setback ahead of a trio of Friday night clashes with No. 1 pick Andy McGrath tweaking his groin at training this weekend.

The Herald Sun understands McGrath pulled up sore in a match simulation session.

The injury puts him in real doubt of missing the club’s clash against Carlton on Friday night, the first of three huge matches which will put the club’s performances under a white-hot spotlight.

McGrath has been in solid form as he moves around from midfield to halfback but has also been flying the flag like few others in the club as he tries to stand up to opponents in a 2-9 season.

The Dons have not yet ruled him out, and would desperately miss his dash and polish against a star-studded Carlton midfield which continues to dominate games.

Essendon is hopeful Jake Stringer (hamstring), Kyle Langford (hamstring) and Will Snelling (calf) could be available for the clash, but they will all have to train well this week.

Stringer has played only four games for seven goals and three behinds after his brilliant 2021 season and tweaked his hamstring in round 7 so will have had two days short of six weeks to recover.

The Dons have announced a club review into coaching and recruitment that has guaranteed coach Ben Rutten and list boss Adrian Dodoro their jobs, but will seek to add personnel to the club.

Andrew McGrath is in doubt with a groin injury. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Dees dealt another blow to tall stocks

Melbourne has confirmed Tom McDonald is set to miss a chunk of football with a suspected lisfranc injury in a big blow to its premiership hopes.

Demons swingman McDonald was named in the Melbourne side but was a late withdrawal after failing to come up from what the club had said was an ankle injury.

But coach Simon Goodwin confirmed on Sunday the club believed his injury was the lisfranc, a part of the mid-foot that can see players out for up to 12 months if surgery is needed.

Essendon’s Nik Cox, who suffered a similar injury last month, is out for 10 weeks or more after the club’s specialists decided he did not need surgery but he is no guarantee to return this season.

If McDonald needs surgery his season is over but even if rest and time in a moon boot was assessed as the best course of action his season could be in doubt.

He would lose most of his fitness base and the Demons would potentially only be able to call upon him late in the home-and-away season or finals.

Tom McDonald was unable to get up for the clash with the Swans and it’s since been revealed he will miss a chunk of the season. Picture: Michael Klein

Goodwin told 3AW on Sunday the club was fearing a chunk of time on the sidelines for premiership swingman McDonald.

“Yeah, it’s looking more like a lisfranc but we need to get some more scans and more information about what that looks like. We will get all the information and we will have some more scans, speak to some doctors about the best method moving forward but at the moment Tom looks like missing a bit of footy and he will be sorely missed because he’s an important player for us.”

The Demons will take on Collingwood on Monday week having lost two games in a row and with Ben Brown goalless in the past three weeks.

Sam Weideman was overlooked for Mitch Brown and kicked three goals in the VFL but is clearly on the outer right now.

Harrison Petty was banged up with a fresh shoulder injury and a shin or lower-leg injury in addition to the knee issues he brought into the game.

But All Australian defender Steven May will be back against the Pies with Goodwin lauding the Pies’ improvement.

“It’s a cracking game and it’s a cracking cause and Neil (Daniher) has done such a great job in this space so it’s going to be a special day against a team playing as good footy as anyone in the competition so it’ shapes as being a cracking day and a cracking crowd.”

Fans storm field, get selfies after Fyfe’s WAFL return

—Braden Quartermaine

Nat Fyfe missed his chance to kick the winning goal, but it didn’t stop his acclamation as the King of Leederville as the dual Brownlow medallist lapped up a rock star return to football on Saturday.

Fyfe completed his first game in more than 10 months and thrilled fans with his gracious attitude.

The Fremantle captain obliged for autographs and posed for selfies even during the match against Subiaco, before being mobbed by fans on the final siren as his Peel teammates formed a guard of honour to help usher him from the ground.

The 30-year-old’s first WAFL appearance in 12 years helped swell the crowd to 2834 at Leederville Oval.

Fyfe is targeting an AFL comeback against Hawthorn at Perth Stadium next Saturday, but said it would take up to six weeks to regain full fitness. He will be kept separate from his teammates for the next few days as a Covid precaution.

“There’s a fair chance I’ve got Covid I reckon after that little interaction with the public,” he said.

Nat Fyfe looks to handball during his WAFL cameo.

“Over the next couple of days I’ll be segregated from the group, but look to work in, train with the group on Wednesday or Thursday and put my hand up for selection hopefully.”

With scores level 25 minutes into the final term, Fyfe sprayed his set shot from 45m off the side of his boot.

It was marked by Fremantle teammate Josh Treacy in the pocket, who shanked his own shot before taking another chance to seal the Thunder’s six-point win.

“It would have been nice,” Fyfe said.

“But hopefully there’s bigger and better fairytales to come later in this season.”

#fyfe#natfyfe Fyfe rock star treatment 💜 @freodockers@WAFLOfficial@[e-mail]/nyWJCaqCoQ

— Andrew Henryon (@muppetrocks1) June 4, 2022

Fyfe worked through a heavy tag from former Sydney player Harry Marsh to finish with an equal game-high 24 disposals, five marks, four tackles and 0.2.

He said he pulled up well after playing 87 minutes exclusively as a midfielder and starting at all 20 centre bounces he was on the field for.

“Everything feels as it should – my back, shoulder,” Fyfe said.

“I was really short of a run. I found after halftime I started to find my lungs again which was good.

“And nice to play in a tight contest where there was a fair bit of physicality and a few big hits.

“Pretty much everything felt rusty. Clearly I’ve got some work to do in front of goal. But outside of that, most of today was just get some minutes under the belt and it will take me five or six weeks to build back to real AFL fitness.”

The highlight of Fyfe’s workout came in the third quarter with a Dustin Martin-style don’t argue on Subiaco’s Noah Ash, completed with a bullet pass inside 50 for Treacy.

Fyfe had no doubt coming back through the WAFL had been the correct call.

“I felt a long way off my best and this gave me a good stepping stone back to AFL level,” he said.

“I felt a couple of times when I reached for balls, my shoulder didn’t quite feel how I remember pre two operations. So I’ve got a little bit of touch and craft to get back and hopefully we’re still playing footy deep into the year when I’m starting to hit my prime.”

Fyfe did not receive a single free kick, and gave away four, despite the relentless attention of Marsh, who often turned away from the ball at stoppages to shove Fyfe in the chest.

“I was very tempted to whack him,” Fyfe joked.

“But I thought it was a good contest out there. He’s a professional the way he went about it and it gave me a good look at what I’m going to get at AFL level.”

Fyfe’s Peel Thunder return was the first time since 2010 he played in the WAFL.

Fyfe was returning to the WAFL for the first time since 2010, when he kicked 13 goals in four league appearances for Claremont as an 18-year-old before being selected for his AFL debut.

He was also a key part of the Tigers’ 2009 colts premiership, booting six goals in the grand final win over Peel.

“This is where I started my AFL career playing WAFL footy,” Fyfe said.

“My last game was against Subi in 2010. So to come back to this system and play was a really special day for me and I hope everyone else enjoyed it as well. I thought the way the public embraced everything that the day was today was pretty special.”

Fremantle mid-season recruit Sebit Kuek showed flashed of brilliance but went scoreless in his first game for Peel, before his day ended with an ankle injury in the third quarter.

Lachie Weller is tended to by medicos during the Suns’ clash with North Melbourne. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

Heartbreaking injury sours Suns rout

—Benjamin Cameron

Gold Coast’s time in the Darwin sun has been soured by a potential season-ending injury to star defender Lachie Weller at TIO Stadium.

It was two wins from two in the Top End for coach Stuart Dew and his men, but their thoughts and concerns will now be with the status of their defender.

Weller was having a game to remember, racking up 20 disposals and seven inside 50s, before he awkwardly fell to the ground in the third quarter.

Sprawled on the ground, he clutched for his knee and punched the turf, indicating the injury was serious.

Lachie Weller in agony after hurting his knee while sprinting down field. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Those concerns were further confirmed at the post-match press conference where Dew said the injury could be a ruptured ACL.

“That’s what the fear is, that’s what it looked like,” Dew said.

“We still have to find out for sure, but it doesn’t look good and we’re going to miss him, he’s in the form of his career.

“It doesn’t look good when they’re in open space and then try and change direction, so our thoughts are with him and we will wrap our arms around him.”

Dew also batted away questions about his contract: “That’s the last thing on my mind at the moment.”

Meanwhile, Kangaroos coach David Noble said he had no injury concerns with star recruit Jason Horne-Francis who hobbled off late in the game.

“I haven’t had an update but there were certainly no concerns on the bench,” Noble told reporters post match.

Weller is helped from the field at TIO Stadium. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Noble said his team were too often competitive “for a bit” – primarily in the first quarter – but failed to respond after the Suns turned a 17-point deficit into a 32-point lead by half time. Gold Coast finished 109-47 against North Melbourne.

North were also smashed in inside 50s – 81-36 – the Suns’ highest number in the club’s history, and the largest differential for the season, and contested possessions by 26.

“Teams shouldn’t underestimate what the Suns are doing at the moment,” Noble said.

“They’re playing really well.

“We can do it for a bit, but it’s just not good enough.

“That’s the game, teams challenge you, you’ve got to be able to respond.

“The lack of response when a team challenges at the moment (is poor).

“When we do that, we’re not too bad.”