AFL 2022: All the latest news as the Crows and Power return to pre-season training

After justs two games in two years due to injury, Wayne Milera’s presence on the training track has boosted morale at West Lakes. Plus, the latest on the concern about the Covid fallout in SA.

Adelaide is cautiously optimistic Wayne Milera is on track for Round 1 after spending almost two years on the sidelines.

Milera has played just two games in two years because, firstly, a stress fracture in his foot in 2020 and then a ruptured patella tendon in pre-season last year.

The 24-year-old made his long awaited return to full training before Crows players left for their Christmas break last year.

He was on the track as Crows players returned to pre-season training on Monday.

Adelaide head of football Adam Kelly said seeing Milera in training was boosting the morale at West Lakes.

Wayne Milera at Crows training on Monday. Picture: James Hetherington / AFC Media

“He’s had two years away from the game effectively and he’s had some challenges,” he said.

“Wayne is a much loved and respected member of our group and we are just so pleased that he is out there with the main group and he is doing so well.

“It just puts a smile on our faces to be honest and fingers crossed all goes well for him throughout season 2022 because our fans and supporters would love nothing more than seeing him on the park.”

The Crows open their 2022 campaign against Fremantle at Adelaide Oval and Kelly said there was hope that Milera would be on track for that.

“He is progressing that way,” he said.

“We say it cautiously because he has had such a long lay-off from football, we cross our fingers every day and he gets through every session and he’s another day closer getting back to the field.”

Captain Rory Sloane trained away from the main group on Monday because of a minor hamstring strain.

Kelly said he could join the main group by the end of the week.

He also said Lachie Murphy’s rehabilitation from surgery for a bulging disk in his neck he had prior to Christmas was going well.

Pre-season ‘fiasco’ looming as Covid hits Crows, Power

Both South Australian AFL clubs had about a quarter of their playing squads missing when pre-season returned because of Covid-19 protocols.

And Port Adelaide general manager football Chris Davies says those players who do test positive in South Australia could miss over two weeks of training because of restrictions and potential health risks.

Crows and Power players returned from their Christmas breaks on Monday.

Like clubs on the Eastern seaboard, a significant number of players from both clubs were away from training, after either testing positive to Covid or being classed a close contact.

Davies said the Power had one player who returned a positive Rapid Antigen Test on Monday morning prior to training, after a negative PCR test late last week.

Catch every moment of The Ashes live and ad-break free during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free now.

Port Adelaide Football club player Travis Boak back at training after the Power’s Christmas break. Picture: PAFC

“We had about a quarter of our squad who are under the AFL’s health and safety protocols at the moment,” he said.

“That number will go up and down over the next period of time.

“When you have some players who are going back to their home ports where there are significant number of cases… we knew that it was going to be affected in some capacity.

“I think what you will see across the competition at this particular time there will be a significant number of people because the players are going back to their families and friends and the reality is that we knew that there would be a group of people who are going to be impacted.

“From here on the club has to consider their health impacts and also the performance impacts.”

Last week, a senior official at a club told News Corp that there was a belief it could be best for the playing cohort to contract the virus before the season starts to help minimise in-season interruption.

Adelaide head of football Adam Kelly, who said the Crows had similar numbers missing as the Power did on Monday, said it would definitely be more convenient if a player was to catch the disease at this time of year.

“You don’t encourage anyone to try and contract the disease but I guess when you are talking about this period of the year when we are not missing games yeah it is probably more convenient to contract it and have your immunity levels raised at this time and be at less risk of not catching it in the coming months,” he said.

“But you don’t do that by design.”

Adelaide Football Club player Will Hamill and Coach Matthew Nicks back at training. Picture: James Hetherington/AFC Media

But Davies said there was a risk of pre-season turning into a “fiasco” with the 10-day isolation period of positive Covid-19 cases in SA having the potential to significantly impact their preparation for the season.

“If a player has to spend 10 days plus extra time out of our training sessions then there is an impact,” he said.

“You can’t deny that anyone who misses lets say 15 days once the player has some sort of ECG (electrocardiogram test).

“When they come back and do other testing, we are going to take an approach of easing them back into training.

“There will be an impact no doubt. The last thing we want pre-season to turn into is a fiasco across the competition.”

Dan Houston back at training. Picture: PAFC

Both Davies and Kelly said that the SANFL needed to look at broadening the pool of top-up players they could use in their state league squads because of Covid.

Kelly said the Crows were just starting to grapple with the issue.

“It’s something we’d like to do (increase the pool) if there are ways that we can work with the SANFL for ways we can identify these players then we will look into it,” he said.

Davies said the SANFL would have to look at the issue closer to the start of their season for “the integrity of their competition”.

Surgery setback for Power young gun

Port Adelaide young gun Miles Bergman had to have a second operation on his right shoulder after an issue arose with the initial surgery he had last year.

Bergman had surgery on his shoulder after the Power’s 2021 campaign and began pre-season on just a running program.

But as players returned after their Christmas break on Monday, the Power announced that the 20-year-old midfielder/defender had a revision of the Laterjet procedure prior to pre-season resuming.

Bergman had the operation after a routine check revealed a surgical screw from the previous surgery had become loose.

Miles Bergman has had more surgery on his shoulder. Picture: Michael Klein

“He didn’t have any pain or issue beforehand but Miles had a screw loose in his shoulder,” Port Adelaide general manager football Chris Davies said.

“We decided to take a conservative approach with that. He’s had the surgery and we’re sure he’ll be back now close to Round 1.”

Davies said it could have been done during the halfway point of the season, but that would have brought a premature end to Bergman’s 2022 campaign.

“The challenge was, do we do it now or do we wait and hope he doesn’t show any issues with it,” he said.

“We thought it would be best to do it now and make sure he’s ready to be back around Round 1.

“We’re expecting him to be back in full training before Round 1 and hopefully he can get a trial game in before Round 1.”

Along with Bergman, who returned to training at Alberton on Monday, Kane Farrell is recovering from an ACL injury suffered last year, while draftee Hugh Jackson had surgery on his hip prior to Christmas.

Originally published as AFL 2022: All the latest news as the Crows and Power return to pre-season training