More soft tissue pain for Essendon’s Zach Reid, full Round 17 teams news as Roos, Blues make mass changes for
Michael Voss has swung the axe ahead of a must-win clash against Collingwood on Friday night while Hawks are back - plus, another big injury blow for Essendon.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Hawthorn will regain its skipper James Sicily as one of two huge inclusions for Saturday night’s clash against the Saints.
Meanwhile Carlton again swung the axe, making six changes for its contest with Collingwood.
The Blues have made four unforced changes for Friday night, dropping Jordan Boyd, Alex Cincotta, Billy Wilson and Lewis Young.
*SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE FULL TEAMS AND INJURY NEWS*
Carlton will also be without injured defenders Adam Saad and Jack Silvagni.
Lachie Cowan, Marc Pittonet, Ashton Moir, Matt Carroll, Francis Evans and Harry O’Farrell have been recalled.
Collingwood has made four changes of its own, bringing in Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell for his first game in more than a year.
The veteran ball winner has battled foot issues all season, but has strung together quality minutes in the VFL across the past month and has earned a call up.
Brayden Maynard has also returned from his own foot injury, while Wil Parker comes in and Roan Steele makes his debut.
Ed Allan and Steele Sidebottom will miss through illness, Charlie West is out with injury and Charlie Dean has been dropped.
Hawthorn will regain Sicily and James Worpel for its game with St Kilda, losing Josh Weddle and Sam Butler to injury.
Weddle is likely out for the season, but Butler is a chance to return next week after experiencing soreness in the leg he broke last year.
St Kilda has recalled Brad Hill and Angus Hastie for Jack Carroll and Tobie Travaglia, who were both dropped.
Richmond will regain Sam Lalor after a lengthy lay-off through injury, as well as Tom Sims and Maurice Rioli for the clash against Geelong.
Tom Lynch will miss the next five games, while Steely Green has been dropped and Mykelti Lefau is out through a calf injury.
Geelong goes into the contest unchanged.
Port Adelaide has brought in Jack Lukosius for his first game since round 2, having been best afield in the SANFL last week.
Ollie Wines has also returned at the expense of Manni Liddy and Logan Evans.
Darcy Gardiner and Cal Ah Chee return for Brisbane for Bruce Reville and Will McLachlan.
Essendon opted to recall Todd Goldstein for a battle with Jarrod Witts, but the veteran Gold Coast ruck was rested for the clash against the Bombers.
Instead, Goldstein will face Ned Moyle as the sole ruck after Essendon omitted Vigo Visentini.
Jordan Ridley and Sam Durham also return for Essendon, while Matt Guelfi and Darcy Parish come out of the side.
The Giants have lost Lachie Whitfield and Jesse Hogan to injury and dropped Nick Madden for the returning Kieran Briggs.
They have recalled Max Gruzewski and James Leake for the clash against West Coast.
The Eagles will hand a debut to Malakai Champion after dropping Jayden Hunt as their only change.
SUNDAY SQUADS
Melbourne will be without Blake Howes or Harrison Petty for the clash with Adelaide but will recall Jake Lever after his omission last week.
The Demons also added Jacob van Rooyen, Jack Billings, Tom McDonald and Jed Adams to the squad.
Adelaide has not nominated any omissions yet, but brought Zac Taylor, Hugh Bond and Chris Burgess into its extended squad.
Nat Fyfe will miss for Fremantle after it was revealed he was injured in the warmup last week, leading to his unused substitute game.
Alex Pearce will return, while Jaeger O’Meara, James Aish and Jeremy Sharp were all added to the Dockers extended bench.
Sydney has recalled Tom McCartin and Joel Amartey to replace Aaron Francis and Dane Rampe this week.
Joel Hamling, Riley Bice and Peter Ladhams have all been called into the squad, which will be finalised on Friday afternoon.
REID SET TO CONSULT SURGEON AFTER LATEST SETBACK
Essendon defender Zach Reid will consult a surgeon on his latest hamstring setback in a bid to put an end to his continued soft tissue issues.
The Bombers on Thursday confirmed Reid had suffered a minor hamstring strain and was set to meet with specialists to explore the next steps including a possible procedure.
The strain is believed to be high up in the hamstring near Reid’s tendon which may require surgery to help fix for the long term, pending medicos’ advice.
The club said it was set to assess “all options” in a bid to try and finally get on top of the hamstring issues.
Surgery could end Reid’s season in another disappointing setback for one of Essendon’s most promising players.
But the club is prepared to play the long game with the important backman and ensure he is right to start preseason training on time in October.
Reid hurt his hamstring during a wet training session on Wednesday, continuing a horror week in which Darcy Parish (calf), Kyle Langford (quad) and Mason Redman (hamstring) also suffered fresh injury blows.
Parish and Langford’s timeframes for a return have not yet been set, leaving a cloud over their availabilities over the remainder of the season.
It meant the Bombers lost four key players to soft tissue injuries despite having the bye last week in another frustrating injury blow for senior coach Brad Scott.
The club is set to conduct a thorough end-of-season review on its high performance department and injury management methods in the wake of the horror injury run.
Some of the club’s most important players have suffered recurring soft tissue injuries this season, including playmaking utility Matt Guelfi.
Reid has played only 19 games in five seasons due to his repeated back and soft tissue injuries, but he has shone in the games he has played this year in a key defensive role.
The Bombers take on Gold Coast on Saturday at Marvel Stadium without Parish, Langford, Reid and Redman who were all hurt this week.
Gun defender Jordan Ridley is set to make his return from his latest hamstring issue as well as Saad El-Hawli. against the Suns.
ROOS LOOSE FIVE FOR CENTENARY CLASH
— Matthew Forest
Harry Sheezel has been named fit to play but there is injury carnage at North Melbourne after wholesale changes for the Centenary game.
The Roos have made five changes, four coming through injury as Luke Parker, Jack Darling, George Wardlaw and Luke McDonald were ruled out.
Zac Fisher has been managed, meaning that the Roos have made five changes with no omissions despite losing by 85 points last week.
North Melbourne will bring in Finnbar Maley, Zane Duursma, Bailey Scott, Will Phillips and Cooper Harvey for the clash.
The Western Bulldogs have also made three changes, dropping Buku Khamis as James Harmes and Sam Davidson miss through illness.
Taylor Duryea, Riley Garcia and Caleb Poulter return to the senior side.
Phillips has been dominant as a ball winner in North Melbourne’s VFL side this season despite limited senior opportunities, but he may get a run-with role on one of the Bulldogs’ stars.
Ed Richards’ emergence in 2025 and Bailey Dale’s dominance off half back would be alternative tagging routes for Phillips, who historically would run with Marcus Bontempelli or Adam Treloar.
REID DOWN YET AGAIN
Essendon’s soft-tissue crisis has hit a new low with gun defender Zach Reid sweating the results of scans on a fresh hamstring problem.
Concerns over the club’s mounting injury worries and high performance department have escalated again after Reid reported hamstring soreness following training in wet conditions at Tullamarine on Wednesday.
The Herald Sun revealed Reid reported hamstring tightness to the club’s high performance staff after the session and was immediately sent for scans.
The fresh problem has put Reid in doubt for Saturday’s clash against Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium – pending assessments from specialists – in another headache for Essendon senior coach Brad Scott.
Another hamstring strain to one of the club’s most important players would be a disaster for the Bombers who are alarmed at the number of soft tissue injuries the club has suffered over the past two years.
As the Herald Sun revealed last month, the concerns will trigger a thorough review of the club’s high performance department at season’s end.
The continued injuries would be an enormous frustration for the coaching staff who are desperate to help guide the rebuilding Bombers up the ladder after 21 years without a finals win.
Despite having a bye last week, the Bombers lost stars Darcy Parish (calf), Kyle Langford (quad) and Mason Redman (hamstring) to new soft tissue injuries, sidelining the trio for the clash against the Suns.
Essendon was preparing to welcome back Reid for the game on Saturday at Marvel Stadium, but the club will be cautious with the 202cm backman given his injury history.
Reid, 23, has endured a terrible run of back and hamstring problems over his short career, playing just 19 games in five seasons.
The club was adamant on Wednesday Reid’s issue was only tightness and that his scans were precautionary.
But Reid’s tightness is another hiccup for a club which is determined to overcome its run of soft tissue injuries.
Reid was on the way back from a hamstring injury he suffered in round 11 against Richmond.
Timelines for Parish and Langford are yet to be determined but the pair have endured nightmare seasons with repeated soft tissue breakdowns.
Defender Jordan Ridley is in the frame to return against the Suns alongside speedster Saad El-Hawli.
HAWKS, PIES COP INJURY BLOWS
– Glenn McFarlane and Ed Bourke
Hawthorn has suffered a serious blow with key playmaker Josh Weddle set to miss “a significant portion” of the back end of the season after scans detected early signs of a stress fracture in his back.
Weddle had soreness arising out of last Saturday’s mauling of North Melbourne in Launceston and went in for scans on his return home.
The scans revealed early stages of lumbar bone stress, with Hawthorn’s head doctor Liam West saying a timeline for Weddle’s return is likely to be determined in the coming weeks.
The Hawks are hopeful the 21-year-old utility can return late in the home and away season and can still play a meaningful role in this year’s finals series.
“We will need to take some time to de-load Josh during this initial phase before we can identify just how long he will be sidelined for,” Dr West said.
“Given how early the injury was discovered, we are hopeful he can return to play before the end of the season.
“While this is obviously disappointing for Josh, our priority right now is taking a careful and cautious approach to ensure Josh makes a safe return but as quickly as possible.
“We will ensure to provide further updates on Josh’s injury as soon as we can.”
Weddle’s versatility has been so important for the Hawks in recent seasons, with his hard running and ball – carrying from half back, with Herald Sun columnist Nathan Buckley saying he was one of the most important players in Sam Mitchell’s structure.
But he can also be used in a variety of roles including on the wing, and even forward, which makes the Hawks a challenging team to match up on.
An accidental head knock early in Collingwood’s training session on Tuesday has thrown Jordan De Goey’s injury comeback off course once again.
De Goey had been due to complete an arduous session in what would have been a significant step forward in his return from an achilles injury, but instead left the track and was placed in the concussion protocols after colliding with Brayden Maynard during a contested drill.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae said it was a “sad” setback for the 29-year-old, who had been steadily rebuilding his body over the last two months.
De Goey has played only 18 games since the Magpies’ premiership triumph after groin and abdominal injuries ruined his 2024 before bone bruising in his knee disrupted his start to this season.
“Jordy got a concussion in the fundamentals (the early part of training) … it’s a bit of a sad one for Jordy, he was just starting to get there,” McRae said.
“He’s obviously going to be in the protocols for the next 10 to 14 days.”
McRae said important defender Brayden Maynard was ready to return against Carlton on Friday, after he was initially ruled out for one to two weeks with a plantar fascia injury but missed the past five weeks.
But in-form veteran Steele Sidebottom was in significant doubt for the Blues clash due to illness, while Lachie Schultz (hamstring) was also unwell, which had delayed his recovery.
“Steele is a bit ill … he’s got a ‘man flu’ at the moment and he’s not well, so I think he’s unlikely to play,” McRae said after Sidebottom missed training.
“Lachie (Schultz) was tracking to potentially be available this week, but he’s been sick as well, he’s got a bit of viral stuff going on.
“He couldn’t quite get there, so hopefully he’ll be back later in the week to set him up for the next one.”
Small forward Bobby Hill had returned to the club but was a “day-to-day” prospect in the lead up to the game, according to McRae.
The Norm Smith medallist was a late withdrawal from Saturday night’s win over West Coast for personal reasons.
“It was great to see Bobby back today … we haven’t seen him around for a few days, and he’s trained really well. We’re excited to have him back,” McRae said.
“He’s a day-to-day thing at the moment … we’re not sure if he’ll be available this week, but it’s really great to see him back in the club.”
With the chance of slippery conditions on Friday night, McRae said the Blues clash could be a game that “suits” Tom Mitchell, who has been pushing for a return after playing seven consecutive games in the VFL.
EARLIER: DONS DIVING DEEP INTO INJURY CRISIS
— Jon Ralph
Essendon is still hopeful of bringing back as many as five senior players against Gold Coast including Jordan Ridley and Zach Reid, despite fresh injuries to Kyle Langford (quad) and Darcy Parish (calf).
The Dons are hopeful that Mason Redman has avoided another soft tissue injury despite suffering some hamstring soreness at Saturday’s training session on the bye weekend.
He could still be available for this weekend’s clash – or might miss only another week after recovering from a separate calf concern.
But Langford has suffered a fresh quad injury and Parish is set to miss with another calf issue as the Dons prepare to release their injury report on Tuesday.
Sam Durham (suspension) and Todd Goldstein (managed) are set to return, while the club will have to assess Reid (hamstring) and Ridley (hamstring) in the build-up to Saturday afternoon’s fixture.
Essendon is confident both are ready to return, with Reid’s round 11 injury against Richmond on the minor scale, but has been treated cautiously given his soft tissue history.
Essendon CEO Craig Vozzo and football boss Dan McPherson are leaving no stone unturned to investigate the club’s injury crisis that has seen too many stars suffer soft-tissue concerns.
The club did renovate its MCG-sized training field over summer and has plans to do something similar to its second training field this off-season.
But it believes the recurrent soft-tissue concerns have nothing to do with the training field, which had grass replaced under a scheduled maintenance program.
The club will dig into its training loads and whether players have been over or under-trained across the pre-season.
Essendon was adamant its players ramp up their off-season program to ensure they returned in peak fitness so that is another avenue of inquiry.
The sequencing of games with Thursday night games and multiple five-day breaks could also be a factor that has affected players.
So Essendon’s injury investigation will forensically dig into those areas before making any concrete conclusions about the future of the club’s high performance staff.
The club is keen to eliminate any own goals and make improvements in its conditioning and medical program before making changes at year’s end.
But Essendon is also aware that it now has a list, which has a handful of players prone to injury, making their management particularly challenging.
Reid has huge potential but after so many concerns across all areas of his body is always going to be prone to breaking down.
Struggling Blues set for latest blow ahead of Pies blockbuster
– Ed Bourke
A lingering groin issue has left Carlton defender Jack Silvagni in serious doubt as the struggling Blues prepare to meet Collingwood on Friday.
Silvagni was confined to run-throughs on the far wing at Ikon Park alongside injured forward Harry McKay as the Blues held an open training session on Monday morning.
He spoke at length to the Blues’ trainers before moving inside about 30 minutes into the session.
Fellow defender Jacob Weitering moved well in a promising session after battling an ankle injury in the Blues’ heavy loss to Port Adelaide, but losing Silvagni would force another reshuffle of the club’s key position stocks ahead of the prime time clash with their arch rivals.
About 40 Carlton supporters watched on in the stands as the under-pressure side was put through its paces.
There was minimal security presence and the session passed without controversy except for one rowdy onlooker standing outside the gates.
“Bit of voice, lads! Bit of voice, come on. Library,” he yelled out.
Blues skipper Patrick Cripps trained fully after dealing with illness over the past week, as did sore ruckman Tom De Koning.
Embattled coach Michael Voss was not spotted, but rarely ventures on to the track during the first session of the week.
Originally published as More soft tissue pain for Essendon’s Zach Reid, full Round 17 teams news as Roos, Blues make mass changes for
Kangaroos’ marquee man subbed out of centenary blockbuster
The Roos are right in the fight with the Dogs in their centenary game, but if they’re going to pull off a boilover, they’ll have to do it without their best player.
SA footy hero’s inspirational ride for a cure
Nine years after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, SA footy hero Mark Mickan is not giving up on his relentless fight to help find a cure.
Nicks’ revelation: The best piece of advice I ever got from Phil Walsh
The Crows have paid a special tribute to former coach Phil Walsh on the 10-year anniversary of his death, with Matthew Nicks recounting his time with Walsh at Port Adelaide.
Venues NSW under fire as Swans boss addresses SCG turf fears
Concerts at the SCG could be a thing of the past as Swans chairman Andrew Pridham rubbished suggestions that the Sydney-Fremantle game on Sunday could have been relocated.
Saints’ next target after missing out on Bergman, Rowell
The Saints missed out on Miles Bergman, but they’re not slowing down their quest for more talent with a highly-touted VFL star is just weeks away from making a call on his future.
Watch: The game plan errors crippling Voss’ Blues
Carlton and Collingwood entered the season seemingly on par as premiership contenders. Four months later, as damning vision shows, they couldn’t be further apart on the field.