AFL injury news and updates ahead of Round 16

The Western Bulldogs are sweating on another injury to Adam Treloar, while the Giants are taking a cautious approach with Lachie Whitfield after the Giants’ head knock.

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge admitted there is a “degree of significant concern” regarding star on-baller Adam Treloar’s latest calf injury.

The All-Australian was subbed out late in the second quarter of his team’s crushing 79-point win over Richmond at Marvel Stadium on Sunday after experiencing tightness in the muscle.

Treloar has had a torrid time with calf injuries already this year which have restricted him to just four games so far.

Adam Treloar was injured again. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

“He’s had a fair few over the journey so for us to sub him out that early in the game, there’s a degree of significant concern,” Beveridge said.

“He’s been a really, really influential player for us, Adam, so the questions start being asked pretty quickly.

“He’s such a proud player, sometimes they want to work through discomfort and injury. Sometimes they can’t differentiate between discomfort.

“But he was incapacitated so we had to take him off.”

Meanwhile, Beveridge expected Ryley Sanders (illness), James O’Donnell (adductor) and Lachie McNeil (head) to all be available to play the Swans in Sydney on Friday night.

As impressive as the Bulldogs have been in their last six wins, which have been by an average of 73 points, Beveridge has not lost sight of the fact that their record against top-eight teams is still 1-5 this season.

Ryley Sanders was a late withdrawal on Sunday. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

However, his team’s performances throughout the year gave him optimism that the Bulldogs would be able to challenge the best teams in the race for the finals.

“We’ve been in every game and that’s important,” Beveridge said.

“Last year we came with a reasonable rush, I think we won 10 out of the last 12 but there were probably seven games in the home-and-away where we walked away thinking, ‘Who was that today?’ We haven’t had one of those this year … it’s encouraging.

“We just need to win enough games to make it in the first place. Will we be a team that’s capable of beating anyone at the end of the year? Well, I think so. We think that every week.”

Beveridge looked back to the Dogs’ narrow loss to premiership favourites Collingwood in Round 2 as cause for optimism for his team’s potential.

“They’re some of the performances that give you some sense of encouragement, but ultimately to get anywhere and achieve anything as the season rolls on, we’re going to need to beat these teams above us,” he said.

Beveridge “absolutely” believes his team is better-placed to make a charge towards finals than they were last year from an offensive perspective.

GIANTS CAUTIOUS AFTER WHITFIELD BUMP

— Sean Teuma

A cautious approach from GWS saw star Lachie Whitfield subbed out of their gripping contest with the Gold Coast after coming from the field with a concussion.

The midfielder wore heavy contact from a collision with Ben King in a contest for the ball, with the Sun winning possession and collecting Whitfield on the way through.

It forced the Giants into making the substitution call early in the second quarter, with coach Adam Kingsley providing an update after full-time.

“He seems okay,” he said.

“He just got that knock early in the game on the boundary line.

“He got a knock on the chin and wasn’t feeling great. We decided to make the call on him.”

Lachie Whitfield was subbed out on Sunday. Picture: Phil Hillyard.

Kingsley was reluctant to throw King under the bus for the contact, labelling it an accident.

“I don’t think it was anything untoward in the incident. I haven’t looked at it to be fair,” he said.

“It’s just one of those things. Unfortunately accidents happen.

“That was one where we lose one of our best players, but you move on pretty quickly and it allowed us to bring Jake Stringer into the game and he had a pretty big influence for us.”

Those sentiments were backed up by Suns coach Damien Hardwick, who believes King won’t have any concerns when the MRP assesses the incident.

“I just thought that both players were playing the ball and it was a big collision” he said.

“We’ve gone down this path enough times where we can understand that accidents happen in AFL footy.

Whitfield has been subbed out of the game, replaced by Jake Stringer.#AFLGiantsSunshttps://t.co/PRgTQjOpWa

— AFL (@AFL) June 22, 2025

“Look we hope Lachie’s okay obviously, but I don’t think Ben will have anything to worry about.”

The injection of Stringer into the contest was a crucial one for the Giants, with the star recruit kicking two important goals during their fourth-quarter blitz to help them overcome the Suns and remain in the top eight.

“I thought Jake had some really important decisions up the field that needed to be made,” Kingsley said.

“Certainly that last one where he booted the ball deep inside 50 and it turned at right angles and rolled out of bounds for a stoppage was an incredible decision to make.

“It’s not just the goals that he’s kicked from the boundary line, which were unbelievable goals.”

Originally published as AFL injury news and updates ahead of Round 16