AFL injury list: All the latest injury news, updates ahead of Round 22
Geelong is uncertain whether defender Tom Stewart will be part of its premiership tilt as he prepares to see a specialist to deal with a foot injury.
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Geelong has been dealt a major blow on the eve of finals with star defender Tom Stewart suffering a suspected serious foot injury.
News Corp on Friday revealed the dual All-Australian had been replaced by Sam Simpson for the clash against St Kilda on Saturday after going down at training on Thursday in a marking contest.
Stewart, 28, was in a moon boot and on crutches on Friday and will consult specialists in a bid to determine the extent of the damage over the next few days.
While the Cats had their fingers crossed it was not season-ending, the injury has placed a huge question mark over Stewart’s availability for finals.
The Cats had already lost Gary Rohan (leg) and Zach Tuohy (hamstring) to injury for the clash against the Saints but will welcome back superstar forward Jeremy Cameron from his third hamstring setback.
It would be a disastrous blow for Geelong if Stewart, who is widely considered one of the best defenders in the league and one of the club’s most important players, misses the rest of the Cats’ premiership tilt.
Geelong football manager Simon Lloyd said the Cats needed more information before determining a course of recovery for Stewart.
“Tommy Stewart sustained a foot injury in a marking contest at Thursday’s training,” Lloyd said.
“He‘s not available this week and we’ll consult relevant specialists over the coming week.”
Clubs normally have the luxury of having a pre-finals bye to help players to get over minor injuries ahead of September.
But the extra week off could be eliminated this year as the league rushes to finish the season amid the latest COVID-19 outbreaks in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
If he has broken any bones in his foot upon landing in the marking contest Stewart could be sidelined for months.
There are many small bones in the foot which can take months to heal and can lead to complications.
The South Barwon product is an integral component in the second-best defence in the league, having only conceded one more point (1304) than Melbourne (1303) for the season.
Stewart could be leading Geelong’s best and fairest and was on track to clinch his third All-Australian jumper in four years, averaging 24 possessions a game across 20 matches.
INJURY LADDER: WHERE DOES EVERY CLUB SIT?
Sydney’s remodelled high-performance and medical teams have helped the high-flying Swans lose the second-fewest games this season to injury.
The AFL’s official number-cruncher, Champion Data, calculates each club’s best 22 players weekly with its AFL Player Ratings.
Sydney lost only 55 games from first-choice players through the first 21 rounds, with only fellow flag contender Melbourne (25 matches lost) having a healthier list.
Injury has handicapped St Kilda (142), Carlton (125) and the Giants (115) the most in 2021.
High performance boss Rob Inness and head of physiotherapy Damian Raper officially started at the Swans in December, replacing long-serving pair Rob Spurrs and Matt Cameron.
This year’s mostly clean bill of health is a welcome change for coach John Longmire.
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“We had a lot of collision-type injuries last year, if you look at (Isaac) Heeney, (Dane) Rampe and (Josh) Kennedy with his knee, and obviously ‘Bud’ (Lance Franklin) didn’t get any games last year,” Longmire said.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries over the last couple of years, but last year particularly from collision-type injuries, or injuries you can’t do a lot about — sometimes you have those runs.
“This year, touch wood, we’ve been in a better space in that way, and it makes such a significant difference, to have the majority of your list to be able to pick from.
“We’ve still got a couple of weeks left in the season, so I’m still a bit reluctant to jump to any conclusions yet — things can change quickly — but that’s been a big focus, to try to make sure we can alleviate those injuries you can prevent.”
Sam Naismith, who is recovering from a second anterior cruciate ligament rupture, Callum Mills (Achilles tendinitis) and Jake Lloyd (knee soreness) are the only sidelined Swans this weekend.
The club’s greatest success might be Franklin, who will be rested this weekend after playing 16 games this year.
Soft-tissue injuries ruined the 34-year-old’s past two seasons and led many in the industry to write him off, only for him to bounce back with 42 goals. He is 14 shy of the magical 1000-goal mark.
Rebuilding Franklin’s body was Sydney’s top summer priority and his program has proven a raging success, aside from a minor pre-season calf issue and a mid-season collision knee injury.
Braeden Campbell (tibia stress reaction) and Lewis Melican (hamstring/Achilles) will make their AFL returns in the Roos game, while Chad Warner (ankle) has resumed playing at the lower level.
The likes of Errol Gulden (foot stress reaction), Sam Reid (calf), Robbie Fox (finger) and Ben Ronke (knee) also missed extended periods, but the Swans have largely escaped major setbacks.
Sydney has tread carefully. It significantly reduced the training loads of draftees Campbell and Gulden at the first sign of stress injuries.
The Swans also held James Rowbottom out of recent games to give him a training block, after rib and knee injuries and other niggles left him struggling to train in the first half of the season.
Young key forward Joel Amartey is another who’s been managed, while ruck recruit Tom Hickey has played all bar two matches despite a posterior cruciate ligament tear related to an old injury.
Huge double Blues blow
Coleman Medal favourite Harry McKay will finish the season with 58 goals after being ruled out for the rest of the year due to a shoulder injury.
Carlton confirmed on Thursday morning McKay would require season-ending surgery on a “high-grade injury on his AC joint”.
McKay is 10 goals clear of Taylor Walker (suspended) and Josh Bruce (knee), who will also miss the rest of the campaign.
It leaves Jack Riewoldt and Tom Hawkins (47 goals) as the only likely contenders to McKay claiming the Coleman Medal, unless Ben King (43 goals) finishes with two huge hauls.
The Blues also confirmed defender Liam Jones would miss the last two rounds after he reported knee soreness during Saturday’s loss to Gold Coast.
Jones has injured his patella and subsequently been ruled out of games against Port Adelaide and GWS Giants.
Carlton said it was confident the key-position pair would be fit for the start of pre-season.
Dogs tall in doubt as reinforcements pushing for return
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says his team must “move on pretty quickly” from Josh Bruce’s season-ending knee injury as they plot a finals campaign without the key forward.
But one possible option to swing into attack as a replacement, forward-turned defender Josh Schache, has been rated a “doubtful” starter against Hawthorn this weekend.
It comes as the Bulldogs could welcome defensive reinforcements for the clash against the Hawks in Launceston with Alex Keath (hamstring) and Ryan Gardner (shoulder) in the mix to make a return from injury.
The Bulldogs were dealt a major blow when their leading goalscorer Bruce injured his ACL in the dying seconds of last week’s loss to Essendon at Marvel Stadium.
Schache, who has recently found a new home in defence, also hyper-extended his knee in the clash and remains in doubt.
“He’ll train today but he is doubtful,” Beveridge said.
But Keath and Gardner, who has not played since Round 15, will come into the selection frame as Beveidge declared them “possibly in this week”.
Second on the Coleman Medal table, Beveridge said Bruce’s injury was “devastating” but the club had to put the setback behind it to focus on the finals campaign ahead.
Bruce will have surgery on his knee Thursday (today).
“It’s devastating for Josh but we have got to move on pretty quickly because there is a lot at stake but we will find a way,” Beveridge said.
“He is pretty philosophical about it all. He has processed the disappointment and he wants to get on with it, he wanted to have the surgery ASAP and get on the front foot with it so he can come back as quickly as possible, which is a great attitude to have.
“And that’s the attitude that we’ve all got to have.
“Yes, we haven’t got Josh for the remaining elements of the season but as we have always done, we’ve just got to find a way to make sure we fulfil the critical roles and put together a blend that will help us win against Hawthorn.”
Asked how the Bulldogs’ attack would shape up without Bruce, Beveridge gave little away.
“You’ll have to wait and see,” he said.
Meanwhile, ruckman Stefan Martin (groin/hip) is edging closer to a return but Beveridge has admitted it could be risky to bring him back for his return game in a final.
“It would be risky, for a player that has been out for so long, it would be a risk, a huge risk,” Beveridge said.
“You just can’t afford to lose anyone in any circumstances in any game, let alone a final.
“It would be less likely.that he would be selected, but it probably depends more on the training block in the lead-in.
“If he can really be on top of things physically with what we throw at him then that will give us peace of mind if we get there.
“We’re not counting on it, it’s a possibility that he might be able to come back.”
FORGOTTEN SAINT IN LINE FOR RETURN
— Chris Cavanagh
Luckless St Kilda midfielder Dan Hannebery is a strong chance to play his first AFL game of the year when the Saints tackle premiership favourite Geelong this weekend.
Hannebery will face a fitness test on Thursday in a bid to put his hand up for a senior recall, having pulled up well from a VFL game and a scratch match over the past two weeks.
Setbacks with a calf injury have crippled Hannebery this year and the 30-year-old has managed just 13 senior games since joining St Kilda from Sydney at the end of 2018.
However, teammate Tim Membrey said Hannebery was back looking strong on the track.
“We know all the issues Hannas has had this year with his body,” Membrey said.
“It’s been frustrating for him and us as players would just love to see him healthy and back out there playing.
“It was good to see him get through the weekend, a bit of a scratch match. He was able to through that unscathed and played some good footy.
“He’ll have to train well on Thursday, prove that he’s fit and ready, but it will be exciting if he comes in.
“He’s really strong in tight, clean, and that’s something we’ve probably lacked a little bit this year. And his ball use as well, he’s really composed with the footy. That’s what he brings at training and he certainly hasn’t lost any of that.”
Hannebery is one of five players who will face fitness tests for the Saints this week, with key forward Max King (adductor), defenders Dougal Howard (hamstring) and Hunter Clark (concussion) and ruckman Paddy Ryder (Achilles soreness) also listed as “test” on the club’s latest injury report.
Veteran defender James Frawley’s season is over after he was sent for shoulder surgery on Monday, while midfielder Jack Billings will be sidelined for at least another week with his hamstring injury.
Covid QUARANTINE MADE KEY SWAN’S INJURY WORSE
— Marc McGowan
Star Sydney Swans midfielder Callum Mills remains in doubt for this weekend’s clash with North Melbourne as he continues to battle Achilles tendinitis.
Coach John Longmire revealed Mills had managed the injury for most of the season and his recent stint in quarantine after attending a Covid-19 exposure site had exacerbated the problem.
The 24-year-old was a late withdrawal after his sore Achilles flared up in the warm-up for Saturday’s game against St Kilda.
“With tendinitis, you need to keep a certain amount of load going through it, and when he was in isolation, he wasn’t able to get that training load he needed to go through,” Longmire said.
“We felt like just before that period we were getting on top of it, even though it was still hindering him.
“He came out of there and played really well (against Essendon), but obviously couldn’t come up at the weekend.
“With tendinitis, particularly in the Achilles, it’s pretty tricky – you’re not quite sure what it looks like from week-to-week, so we’ll see how he goes this week.”
The Swans have a largely clean bill of health outside of Mills and ruckman Sam Naismith (knee), but Isaac Heeney played with a sore thumb last week and several younger players were managed in recent weeks.
Braeden Campbell (tibia stress reaction), Chad Warner (ankle) and Lewis Melican (hamstring/Achilles) are all back playing, while Joel Amartey’s been given extra rest as well.
James Rowbottom, who replaced Mills against the Saints, has dealt with a myriad of injuries, including rib and knee setbacks, so was kept out of the team for a while to prioritise training.
The end of Sydney’s five-game winning streak last week effectively dashed its top-four hopes, but Longmire’s side will finish no lower than sixth.
He ruled out resting players for the sake of it, but said someone like 34-year-old Lance Franklin continued to be a weekly proposition.
“If our players are feeling good and physically ready to go, we want them to play,” Longmire said.
“We think a team that’s played a bit of footy (together); there’s a sense of synergy they get. The competitive instincts that kick in every week after playing is worth a bit.
“But if a player, as in Callum’s case, isn’t right to play, they won’t.”
Longmire addressed the Swans’ repeated slow starts – they’ve trailed at quarter-time for four-straight matches – and admitted they were trying different things to fix the issue.
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Originally published as AFL injury list: All the latest injury news, updates ahead of Round 22
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