AFL Finals 2023: All the latest from Melbourne training as Simon Goodwin faces the media
Ahead of today’s tribunal, Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin faced the media to talk about Brayden Maynard and Angus Brayshaw’s health, Max Gawn injury reports and more.
Melbourne midfielder Angus Brayshaw is said to be “progressing well” five days on from a serious concussion which resulted from an incident that will be tested at the AFL tribunal tonight.
Brayshaw is one of two forced changes that the Demons will be forced to make for Friday night’s semi-final against Carlton, with key forward Jacob Van Rooyen having been suspended.
However, Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin dismissed concerns over the fitness of captain Max Gawn on Tuesday morning amid reports that he had suffered a broken toe.
Star midfielder Clayton Oliver is also believed to be battling knee soreness.
“I can confirm that he (Max) will train fully today,” Goodwin said.
“He and Clayton will train fully today and be available. I think every player is carrying certain things at certain times of the year. But this isn’t something that is going to slow either of these two down. They had a light day the other day but they will train fully today in preparation for the game.”
Goodwin said key forward Ben Brown (knee) would also be available to return from injury as he shapes as a possible replacement for Van Rooyen.
“Ben’s back,” Goodwin said.
“He’ll train fully today and there’s nothing off the table at the moment from a selection perspective given our forward half.”
Brayshaw walked into the Demons’ training base at Casey Fields on Tuesday morning as teammates prepared for their main training session ahead of Friday night’s semi-final against Carlton.
Brayshaw completed some light running on Tuesday, with Goodwin and his teammates getting around him on the track.
“I think the whole footy world is looking at this case for a whole range of different reasons,” Goodwin said on Tuesday morning.
“Post-game I gave the basic facts about what took place. But ultimately we’re looking at what a duty of care looks like in this space. To have a player concussed for two minutes, I think we’re looking at the different types of footy acts that are out there and the space that we’ve come to in this area. We’ve come a long way as an industry about how we protect the head, whether that be within tackles, within bumps, with a whole range of different football acts. I think this is another example of, ‘What does a duty care look like in a football act?’
“The whole footy world will be looking at what the outcome of this result is and we’ll certainly be one of those clubs.”
Goodwin said while Brayshaw was feeling better, he still had a lot of tests to do before a possible return for a preliminary final or grand final, if the Dees make it.
“Clearly he’s in the protocols and there’s more checks that needs to be done,” Goodwin said.
“So far, so good in terms of his progression to where we want to be. But there’s some tests that still need to be done. He’s got to work through these protocols and we certainly won’t take a risk with him as a player.
“There’s a big picture to think of here with Angus and we’ve just got to make sure everything is done properly. His health is paramount in this situation. So we certainly won’t take a risk.
“We’ll make sure the protocols are done well and once we get through that, we’ll assess it then.”
Brayshaw is set to have a brain scan as part of the protocols, with no discussions having yet been held between him and Melbourne about his short or long-term future in the game.
“Health is paramount in this space,” Goodwin said.
“We’ve seen a number of players retire due to concussion. So we need to make sure the athlete – in this case, Angus – is clear, is functioning fully and we’re really clear about it looks like moving forward. But I think nothing is off the table at this point. We need to make sure he works through the protocols the right way.”
MELBOURNE TRACK WATCH
GAWN FOR FRIDAY NIGHT?
In the wake of reports that Max Gawn was battling a broken toe, the skipper trained fully during the Demons’ main session on Tuesday morning.
Gawn participated in running, drills and some match simulation alongside his teammates and appeared to be covering the ground with relative freedom.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin refused to confirm that the issue was a broken toe in his press conference before training, but dismissed any concerns about Gawn’s availability for Friday night’s semi-final against Carlton.
“I’m not going to give out a medical report,” Goodwin said.
“What I will say is he’s going to train fully today.”
OLIVER STILL SORE
Star midfielder Clayton Oliver is clearly battling some knee soreness, but got through training on Tuesday and looks set to take his place on Friday night.
Oliver started the session with some sprint work on his own, before joining teammates for drills and match simulation.
During one drill, he went down clutching at his knee and was briefly attended to by club medical staff.
But after looking very sore for a couple of minutes, he resumed his work on the track and was running freely.
BROWN BACK?
Key forward Ben Brown is available for selection once again, but the Demons look unlikely to roll the dice on him after Jacob Van Rooyen’s suspension left a void in the forward line.
Brown has not played since he lined up for Casey in the VFL on July 30, sitting out the past five games with a knee injury.
The 30-year-old has featured in just seven senior matches this season for a return of 11 goals.
“He’ll train fully today and there’s nothing off the table at the moment from a selection perspective given our forward half,” Goodwin said when asked about Brown before Tuesday’s training.
However, Brown featured in the weaker side during some match simulation on the track, with Tom McDonald and Joel Smith the key targets forward in the stronger side.
GRUNDY SOME CHANCE
The Demons have not ruled out recalling ruckman Brodie Grundy for Friday night’s semi-final.
Grundy’s last AFL game was against the Blues in round 22, when he logged just nine disposals playing as a forward and also assisting Gawn as a back-up ruckman.
Grundy trained well on Tuesday, spending time with the forwards group before being pitted against Gawn in the ruck during match simulation.
“Nothing’s off the table,” Goodwin said.
“It’s still very early in the week.
“I’m not going to go into the depths of what the team will look like from a selection perspective, but what we have done throughout the whole year is (we) have had to find a way to score through our forward line. We’ve had some real interruptions in the forward half of the ground and that’s no different currently. But we’ll come up with a plan.”
Melbourne recorded 69 inside-50s against Collingwood last week but managed to score only seven goals from them.
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