Round 1 injury and selection news: Stay up to date with every club
James Sicily will have to step up in the leadership stakes for an inexperienced Hawks side missing two stars due to Covid.
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Returning Hawthorn star James Sicily says he is ready to help fill the leadership void as a young Hawks side endures the round 1 Covid absences about to sweep the competition.
As Sydney’s Dane Rampe said increased Covid numbers felt like “Groundhog Day” for the competition, Hawthorn captain Ben McEvoy and 2021’s leading goalkicker Luke Breust will both miss the clash against North Melbourne.
The Hawks’ youth will be on display after coach Sam Mitchell handed debuts to No.7 draft pick Josh Ward and No.29 selection Connor McDonald.
Inside midfielder Ward was in scintillating touch in the AAMI Series and fellow contested ball winner McDonald can also push forward, with ex-Pies ruckman Max Lynch to make his debut for the club.
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Sicily will play his first game since Round 12, 2020 after ACL surgery but after a flawless pre-season said he and key forward Jack Gunston would step up in the absence of McEvoy and Breust.
“We are just going to have to roll with the punches. ‘Macka’ and ‘Punky’ are out this week with health and safety protocol and we have got a supp list there so we will probably have to use it at some stage but we will try our best for it not to distract us and keep building on the way we want to play,” he said.
“There is going to be a void to fill, especially with Macka who is the captain, so its going to be up to Jack and I and numerous others to step up and lead a younger group which is probably the youngest we have ever been for a young side
“We are excited by that and for the young guys playing in front of 35,000 to 40,000 it’s going to be a great experience for them and there is going to be a lot of energy out there.”
The AFL is yet to tighten its social distancing or Covid protocols for players, with Rampe adamant Sydney’s players were using common sense given Covid numbers that hit 20,087 on Thursday.
“We will just roll with it, see whatever the AFL protocol is. I assume we will have to abide by that…. I am not so much of a social person anyway,” joked Sicily.
Hawthorn best-and-fairest winner Jack Gunston played only a single game last year before a second back surgery but is ready to combine his on-field abilities with a teaching role for the young kids.
“It’s really exciting. Josh Ward and Connor McDonald are our first two picks in the draft,” he said.
“They haven’t put a foot wrong. They have been really exciting, they are both crafty players, they are going to be super players for this football club for a long time and I think they are ready to go and perform in round 1, they are not just filling a spot, they have performed well in the praccy games and their attitude to training has been super.
“(We are) really excited to have them there and big Maxy Lynch, we are keen to see what he can do. He is a bit of a character, a bit of a lad and the boys got around him as soon as he stepped into the footy club.”
“It’s just exciting seeing a lot of young talent coming in. We are probably more in teaching mode than we were in the past which is great for our development. They are talented kids and the quicker we can fast track them we will move up the ladder.”
Covid-hit Hawks make bold captaincy call
Jaeger O’Meara will be named Hawthorn’s acting captain for round 1 with senior players Ben McEvoy and Luke Breust missing the clash against North Melbourne with Covid issues.
The Herald Sun revealed on Thursday the Hawks had a pair of players unavailable, with O’Meara to return from a hamstring issue to captain the Hawks.
The news comes after a third AFL club was hit with Covid positives just hours before the start of round 1 of the 2022 season.
The Sydney Swans have been revealed as the latest team who will lose players to the virus this weekend.
The names of the players have not been released but the Swans are confident Lance Franklin will take the field against Greater Western Sydney on Saturday, while teammate Cal Mills (achilles) also available and expected to play.
In good news for Richmond, co-captain Toby Nankervis will emerge from isolation to take his spot against Carlton on Thursday night.
But the Herald Sun revealed on Wednesday morning that Hawthorn will have at least two-first choice players unavailable to tackle North Melbourne on Sunday after testing positive in recent days.
It is understood Luke Breust and captain Ben McEvoy are the two senior Hawks who will miss.
Collingwood forward Will Hoskin-Elliott and coaches Brendon Bolton and Josh Fraser won’t be at the Pies’ round 1 clash against St Kilda due to health and safety protocols.
It comes as the the AFL is offering to fly West Coast and Fremantle in and out of Perth for home games from a Melbourne base to lessen the risk of Covid.
At West Coast Tim Kelly will miss the round 1 clash with Gold Coast but it is understood Liam Ryan will clear Covid protocols on Thursday and be available.
The Herald Sun can reveal the AFL has spoken with West Coast and Fremantle about the possibility of them flying to an eastern seaboard hub – likely Melbourne – for several weeks given the rising numbers of Covid positives in Perth.
The Herald Sun reported last week 80 players had already contracted Covid over summer but with a new more virulent strain clubs will continue to sweat on player availability as they preach caution with their players.
The Eagles and Dockers would still play home games by flying back into the city, but would lessen the risk of players contracting Covid from families and friends given they would be effectively quarantined.
At this stage the clubs believe the option is unlikely and would only be used as a fall-back if Covid numbers got out of control in the state or worrying numbers of players were affected by Covid protocols.
There were 6062 Covid positives in West Australia on Wednesday - only 60 per cent of the 9426 cases in Victoria - but with so few WA-based players having had Covid there is little natural immunity in that playing cohort.
It is understood WA-based clubs believe the predicted case load will peak in Perth in the next week.
And given Victorian clubs are still being affected there is less upside in relocating teams.
WA-based players were given assurances over the summer hubs would not be needed so would be less than thrilled to have to enter hubs again.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan hinted at different protocols on AFL360 on Tuesday night as he admitted the Eagles might need to use top-up players from round 1.
“We have been really clear this thing through winter will have different impacts on different states,” he said.
“It might take out three or four of your midfielders but we are playing on so we probably didn’t expect to get a test of depth straight up with West Coast but they will work through it.
“We are seeing it straight away. We didn’t expect it Round 1 but we expected it through parts of the year.
“There is some stuff being discussed that the fixture holds but the way it is delivered looks a bit different. That is for the coming days. The games will be there as fixtures, home or away, but the way they are executed might look a bit different.”
Asked if there was a risk to crowds, currently capped at 50 per cent in Perth, he replied:”No, not that I have heard”.
While the Hawks will not be able to choose several first-choice players given Covid protocols, Ward is set to make his AFL debut.
Ward put in a slashing audition for his debut against Richmond but pulled up with some calf soreness ahead of Sunday’s clash.
He had scans but was cleared of any damage.
The Hawks believe he will be fit to take his spot in the side if handed a debut.
While they are yet to confirm he will play it is understood he will be picked for round 1.
FLAG TRIO TO MISS GRAND FINAL REMATCH
Melbourne will take no more than 20 premiership players into Wednesday night’s grand final rematch, with defenders Trent Rivers, Michael Hibberd and Harrison Petty all ruled out.
The Demons trained lightly at Port Melbourne’s VFL oval on Tuesday in what was a final chance to get their premiership game plan humming before unfurling the flag for the first time in 57 years at the MCG.
Coach Simon Goodwin confirmed Adam Tomlinson was in the mix to slot straight back into the back six just nine months after undergoing a knee reconstruction.
“He’s done everything right. It’s quite an incredibly story, really. He’s come back within eight months into full training and playing games of footy,” Goodwin said.
“He’s very close to selection.”
Rivers (knee), Hibberd (calf) and Petty (calf) are unlikely to be absent for long, with Rivers the best chance of returning in round 2.
Demons chief executive Gary Pert called the AFL at 8.30am the morning after last year’s grand final to request an MCG rematch against the Dogs in round 1 so the club’s long-suffering supporter base could feast on the breakthrough premiership.
While the annual Carlton-Richmond season-opener on Thursday night made it tricky, the league agreed to grant Pert’s wish by starting the season on a Wednesday with the hotly-anticipated rematch.
The Dogs and Dees will have met five times in just 373 days – last year’s pre-season clash, two home-and-away outings, the grand final and Wednesday’s blockbuster – with the players openly disliking each other.
The Bulldogs felt disrespected that the Demons sang GALA’s Freed from Desire repeatedly during their partying, with the smash hit belted out routinely by the Dogs in their locker room celebrations.
But Goodwin said it was not intended as a jab at the Bulldogs, although admitted a rivalry was growing between the white and blue-collar AFL clubs.
“I sing it in the car all the time. It’s on the radio,” Goodwin said.
“It was certainly no disrespect to the Western Bulldogs one bit. It was part of a 50-song playlist.”
Australia’s Twenty20 team pressed play on the 1996 classic after its World Cup triumph last year while Liverpool also enjoyed a rendition after its recent silverware.
About 70,000 fans are expected to fill the MCG as Demons greats Ron Barassi, Hassa Mann, Garry Lyon, Nathan Jones and Hassa Mann will help unfurl the premiership flag before the match before a halftime fireworks show that will be the biggest in the venue’s history.
Demons players will not be involved in the pre-game ceremony.
BEVERIDGE BRISTLES OVER HUNTER PROBE
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge bristled at an “interrogation” on Tuesday and wouldn’t confirm a report star midfielder Lachie Hunter wouldn’t play in the season-opening clash with Melbourne on Wednesday night.
But Beveridge did confirm key defender Alex Keath would take on the Demons despite suffering a knock to his shin in the Bulldogs’ final pre-season match.
“It was really limiting him post that knock in the game so it was too much of a risk,” he said.
“We took him out of the game but he’s ready to go.”
A report on Monday night suggested Hunter had been overlooked on form for the clash with the Demons but Beveridge wasn’t happy with constant questioning on Tuesday morning.
“I’m aware of the reports but the team will come out later,” Beveridge said.
“It’s speculation from a journalist so you can’t expect me to bite before the teams come out.
“I’m not going to talk about Lachie Hunter if this is some kind of interrogation or investigation into how he’s been going.”
“It will all be unnecessary at the end of the day, anyway.”
Beveridge conceded there was healthy competition for spots in the Bulldogs midfield with the likes of Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae, Tom Liberatore, Adam Treloar, Bailey Smith and Josh Dunkley all at his disposal
“There is pressure on for spots, there’s no doubt about it,” Beveridge said.
“There’s a number of boys who are putting their hand up who might be on the periphery.
“One approach isn’t sustainable for too long so hopefully we get the mix right.”
SECRET INJURY RUINED MATT ROWELL’S 2021
Jon Ralph
Gold Coast No. 1 pick Matt Rowell has revealed he, last year, battled osteitis pubis, as he sets his sights on leading Gold Coast to a historic finals appearance.
And Rowell says the players have “come too far” with Stuart Dew to want a coaching reset, despite conjecture over Alastair Clarkson’s future plans.
Rowell told the Herald Sun that he was battling groin issues in his second AFL pre-season even before he damaged his posterior cruciate ligament in Round 1 against West Coast.
While he returned to play 11 late-season games he never had the explosiveness of his debut season with that remarkable burst of three games where, in each, he polled three Brownlow votes.
After a flawless pre-season including last week’s 27-possession eight-clearance, eight-tackle performance against Geelong, he admits he was hampered last season by the early stages of osteitis pubis.
“There was a little bit of that (groin soreness and osteitis pubis) even before the knee in the pre-season,” he said.
“But I just had to deal with that during the pre-season and then obviously the knee, which was a bit disappointing, but just that back end of the year being able to get back, being able to get out there and play footy again, I loved getting back out there.
“That set me up for this pre-season and then into this year.”
“I feel really good at the moment. Body is in a good place. Mind is in a good place.
“Just really enjoying my footy and enjoyed the pre-season. I got to work again and I feel like my body is feeling really good and I am ready to go. And I am ready to have a good consistent year this year. And I am ready to get back to my best.”
Of the question marks about his form returning from that PCL strain, he maintains he always backed his ability to rediscover what made him the No. 1 pick.
“I didn’t really hear much of it. I don’t tend to focus on that stuff too much. I have got pretty good self belief and I know the player I can be. That doesn’t phase me too much.”
Rowell’s fastidious preparation is legendary but he admits he has had to learn how to relax as the Suns conditioning experts also ensure he fulfils his program without overtraining.
Living with young stars Jack Lukosius and Ben King he has also worked hard on developing interests outside of football for a player who lived and breathed only footy as a junior.
King signed up last week and Rowell, contracted to the end of 2023, says his housemate won’t be the last of the trio including Lukosius and Izak Rankine.
“They mean it when they say that. We talk about it a lot. I am really close with Ben and I live with him. He really enjoys it up here, he’s really good mates with a lot of the boys at the club and he sees a really good future here. Which I know I do as well. We talk about that a fair bit,” he said.
Dew will need to bank early wins to quieten speculation about his future, despite the AFL’s denials it is interested in parachuting four-time premiership great Alastair Clarkson into the expansion club, which it has funded to the tune of $200 million.
“No. We have come too far with Dewey. And we know Dewey has belief in us and that’s a big thing,” says Rowell of speculation about a coaching change.
“Personally I have really loved playing for Dewey and we love how he coaches and also the person he is off the field.
“I get along well for him and that goes for a lot of the boys. We just want to continue on this journey for him and keep improving.
“We aim to play finals this year. We are all really driven and really hungry to play finals. We know this club hasn’t done it before and we really want to be the first group.
“We have belief we can do it and that stems down from the top. We know Dewey believes in us and the leaders, Wittsy (Jarrod Witts), Touk (Miller), Dave (Swallow), have good belief in this group.”
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