Tom Liberatore, Jack Macrae push for injury comebacks in elimination final

TOM Liberatore and Jack Macrae are both making late surges from injury in a desperate bid to be available for Thursday’s knockout final against West Coast.

Injured Dog Tom Liberatore.

TOM Liberatore and Jack Macrae are both making late surges from injury in a desperate bid to be available for Thursday’s knockout final against West Coast in Perth.

The Bulldogs say Liberatore’s ability to play through the pain of his syndesmosis injury is the key factor in passing him fit to take on the Eagles.

He trained on Saturday and will have to do so again early this week, with the Dogs flying out for Perth on Wednesday.

Jake Stringer is a certainty to return after his banishment to the VFL but acting captain Easton Wood (ankle) is not yet passed fit.

The Dogs could make as many as five changes, having lost their past seven games in Perth by an average margin of 57 points, as they roll the dice in the sudden-death second elimination final.

Liberatore’s father Tony was one of the game’s most courageous characters, returning from a knee reconstruction in 18 weeks and constantly playing through pain.

The syndesmosis is the joint between the tibia and fibula bones at the ankle, with the injury taking away all explosiveness.

Liberatore was in such great form when he suffered the injury — beating opponent Patrick Dangerfield at Simonds Stadium — he might be worth the risk.

Injured Bulldogs run laps at Whitten Oval. Picture Jake Nowakowski

Dogs defender Matt Suckling, himself managing achilles pain, backed Liberatore to play.

“He trained yesterday. He is so important. It is just a pain thing and he is such a tough little bugger so I am sure he will be right,” Suckling said on Sunday.

Assistant coach Rohan Smith said over the weekend Stringer, held out of the VFL finals on Saturday, would play against the Eagles.

“There’s been a big improvement in what we’ve asked from Jake,” Smith said.

“He’s gone back with the most fantastic attitude. He’s played some really good footy and there are some really good signs.

“We’ll have to make that decision as a match committee group to see if Jake plays, but all things are pointing in the direction that ‘String’ will come into the side.”

Jake Stringer is expected to return from a two-week VFL exile.

The injury-ravaged Dogs have been brave all year but it would take a phenomenal turnaround for them to triumph against the resurgent Eagles.

Their last win in Perth was in Round 13, 2010 against West Coast, with spearhead Josh Kennedy kicking 23 goals against them in the past four Subiaco matches.

With key defender Marcus Adams still injured and Dale Morris’s back-related hamstring injury causing him to miss a chunk of matches, Kennedy will again loom large.

Suckling said he believed Stringer would play after being dropped for a combination of attitude and form issues.

“I don’t know about a certainty but he trained really well yesterday and we had a great session out at Whitten Oval,’’ he told Channel 7’s Gameday.

“He has worked really hard the last couple of weeks and I am sure the coaches will have him in their mind.”

Toby McLean was also held out of the Dogs VFL loss on Saturday, with Mitch Honeychurch and Lukas Webb among the club’s best in the 70-point loss to Casey.