AFL round 11: All the latest selection and injury news
Magpies coach Craig McRae has put the idea of shorterning quarters back on the table, revealing that 153 players across the competition missed round 10 through injury – including a Dons midfielder who’s set for a stint on the sidelines.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Melbourne will be without key defender Jake Lever for up to a month because of a knee injury.
Lever was already missing Sunday’s clash with St Kilda because of concussion and it was that enforced lay-off which forced the Demon’s hand in regards to his niggling knee problem.
With a bye looming in Round 14, the Demons medical staff decided to utilise the four-week block and put their prized defender under the knife.
Included in that stretch of game’s is the blockbuster King’s Birthday clash with Collingwood.
Lever had been struggling with the issue for several weeks and the best move at this point of the season was to operate.
He was subbed out of Melbourne’s shock loss to West Coast on Sunday after copping an errant knee to the head from Jack Darling.
PARISH SET TO MISS THREE WEEKS
Essendon is expected to be without Darcy Parish until after its round 14 bye after the midfielder was pulled out of Sunday’s game against North Melbourne with a calf strain.
Parish missed the opening rounds of the season with a hamstring strain, and has played seven of 10 games so far in 2022.
His absence has been covered by the rise of Sam Durham and breakout seasons by Archie Perkins and Jye Caldwell.
Essendon footy department boss Daniel McPherson on Monday said the club wouldn’t take any risks with Parish.
“Given Darcy’s importance to our team, we’ll use the next few weeks, plus the mid-season bye week, to ensure he is in great shape heading into the second half of the season,” he said.
“After missing the first couple of games of the season, Darcy’s season was building nicely and he’d been playing some terrific football for us in recent weeks, so this latest setback, although relatively minor, is frustrating.”
INJURY TOLL SENDING AFL A MESSAGE: McRAE
Collingwood coach Craig McRae believes the mounting injury toll across the competition is sending the AFL a message about the length of games.
The reigning premiership coach said the Pies would only have 29 players to choose from for Friday night’s clash with Fremantle at Optus Stadium.
Several other clubs, notably Richmond and Carlton, have also been gripped by dramatically high injury lists in the first part of the season with McRae revealing his club’s in-house data had 153 players across the competition missing last week’s round because of injury.
“It’s a hard game and maybe that’s saying we need a reset. Is this a trend, a pattern of behaviour or an event?” McRae said. “The game is giving us feedback, 153 players is feedback.
“In hub life we played less time and I don’t think game was less of a product.”
McRae said he felt players were “living on the edge” from a physical standpoint with multiple six day breaks now a part of the draw because of the introduction of Thursday night football.
MAC ON TRACK
Gold Coast has received a welcome boost ahead of Saturday’s clash with Carlton at Marvel Stadium after defender Mac Andrew trained fully on Monday only days after fears he fractured his leg against Geelong.
Andrew, 20, was substituted at halftime against the Cats in Darwin after colliding with teammate Ben Ainsworth and Cat Mark O’Connor in the second-quarter.
The key defender was spotted in a moon boot after the match and coach Damien Hardwick told reporters he feared a “fracture” was likely.
But scans subsequently cleared Andrew of any bone damage and he trained freely at Carrara on Monday, setting himself up for selection against the Blues.
Andrew’s availability would come as a massive boost to the Suns’ back six which will face its sternest test of the season on Saturday against the Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay-led Blues.
The 201cm defender has fast become one of the best interceptors in the AFL this season.
BLUES HOPEFUL ON STARS
Carlton is hopeful Jacob Weitering will be available to join Adam Saad against Gold Coast as the club attempts to ride through its latest injury crisis.
The Blues have been in the top seven clubs for games lost to injuries in each of the last four seasons with the current injury toll at 15 given Weitering’s corked right thigh.
He was able to play the week after suffering a similar injury to his left thigh in round 6, but he was subbed off in the crushing loss to Sydney.
In 2018 he had missed a pair of matches with the same concern and then returned through the VFL, but the Blues need their reigning best-and-fairest winner against the Suns after falling out of the top eight with a 6-4 win-loss record.
Weitering did little at training on Monday, but the Blues are hopeful he will be able to ramp up his training later in the week and play on Saturday afternoon off an eight-day break.
Saad said over the weekend he was confident he would be ready to return after a hamstring issue suffered in round 6, while Jesse Motlop is also pushing to be available for the Blues.
He has most recently battled a hamstring concern, but has not played at senior level this year given multiple issues. He would normally return through the VFL, but with Carlton already missing David Cuningham (calf), Jack Martin (calf) and Jack Silvagni (knee), the Blues need to find more crumbing forwards.
Lachie Fogarty (wrist) would need to get through training to push for selection, but might be one additional week away.
Tom De Koning will be available to take on the Suns, despite speculation he might have pulled-up sore.
The Blues maintain despite turning over every stone to attempt to fix their injury crisis there is no formal review.
The club’s decision to push extremely hard with loads through a short pre-season then train across the club’s two pre-season games is one likely factor in the soft tissue concerns.
Fitness boss Andrew Russell and coach Michael Voss told the players they would increase those loads to get into even better shape, but round 3 onwards players began dropping with soft-tissue concerns.
This year, Carlton has footy’s worst injury toll with 60 games lost to first-choice players, even though Richmond has 18 players on their current injury list.
The Blues have had 14 soft tissue injuries, a pair of ACL tears, multiple training injuries, and multiple repeat muscle tears to Cuningham, Martin and Adam Cerra.
Matthew Cottrell’s navicular stress reaction is likely to keep him out at least until after the round 14 bye.
It will put increased pressure on fitness boss Russell, who has been at the Blues since 2018.
Originally published as AFL round 11: All the latest selection and injury news
The Tackle: Bevo’s Bulldogs, Lords of the Underachievers
Some Bulldogs on big money struggled mightily against the high-flying Hawks, but they weren’t alone, so where to now for the Dogs? MARK ROBINSON reviews week one of the AFL finals.
Revealed: The panel which will oversee Dees’ review after backflip
After rejecting the need for a full-scale review of the club all through 2024, Melbourne has backflipped. JAY CLARK reveals the three men who’ll conduct the sweeping review.