Port Adelaide dealt blow as Jeremy Finlayson set to miss rest of season with lacerated spleen

Port Adelaide’s key forward stocks have been dealt another blow, with Jeremy Finlayson set to miss the rest of the season after a nasty injury. SIMEON THOMAS-WILSON has the details.

Jeremy Finlayson will miss the rest of the season. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Port Adelaide’s key forward woes have been further compounded with Jeremy Finlayson ruled out for the rest of the season with a lacerated spleen.

Finlayson reported soreness after the Power’s loss to Gold Coast on Sunday and scans revealed that he had sustained a minor laceration to his spleen.

He will not require surgery but will miss the remainder of the season.

“He had a small, but stable laceration on his spleen,” Port Adelaide assistant coach Tyson Goldsack said.

“He didn’t really report anything in the game, he felt soreness but just generally.

“But he continued playing, it wasn’t until after the game he reported it was pretty sore and the doctors sent him in for a scan and they found that.”

Jeremy Finlayson will miss the remainder of the 2024 season. Picture: Getty Images

Finlayson is out of contract at the end of the season.

Goldsack said the focus was on Finlayson’s long-term health.

“We will just make sure he recovers the way he needs to recover,” he said.

“His health is the No. 1 priority.”

Goldsack said Finlayson said he believed the incident occurred in a tackle, but there was “nothing untowards” from it.

“We will take as long as it takes to get him right,” he said.

“It is an injury that you want to get 100 per cent right before you try and race him back.

“It is about the health and wellbeing for him first.”

In positive news for the Power, Todd Marshall has escaped injury after he was involved in a bizarre incident with teammate Charlie Dixon.

Marshall was in significant pain after Dixon landed on him and his weight pushed his leg to an unnatural position.

He was distraught on the bench after it, but in a big boost for Marshall he has avoided any significant injury and will be a test for the Power’s clash against Richmond at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

“He copped the full weight of Charlie Dixon on the weekend, which nobody wants, especially your own teammate,” Goldsack said.

“He is sore but will remain a test for the rest of the week and we will see how he progresses over the next couple of days.

“It certainly was uncomfortable for him early on but it didn’t get as bad as he thought it would get.”

While he is a test Marshall is likely to miss the Power’s clash against Richmond on Saturday though.

Todd Marshall in pain after a clash with teammate Charlie Dixon. Picture: Getty Images

The key forward is out of form and down on confidence.

Goldsack said the Power’s ball movement had not helped Marshall.

“It has kind of been up and down, the year as a whole for him,” Goldsack said.

“The way he needs to move and find the footy and a bit of our ball movement going in can be better, I think it isn’t just him finding form our ball movement being better can compliment him.”

Lachie Jones will also miss for the Power, after he entered concussion protocols following forceful front-on contact from the Suns’ Alex Davies.

He has been hit with a three-match ban for it, while Malcom Rosas Jr was given a one-match suspension for his off-the-ball strike on Logan Evans.

The paltry penalty has been heavily debated and Goldsack said he couldn’t say what he truly felt about it.

“I don’t think I can talk about it can I? I don’t know, I’m not sure what caused him to do it,” he said.

“Logan was just standing on the mark and to cop that as an innocent bystander it wasn’t a great look.”

Mitch Georgiades will return for the Power after serving a one-match suspension of his own, while Willie Rioli is also primed for a comeback after playing in the SANFL.

Goldsack said the Power were open to potentially playing Esava Ratugolea as a forward/ruck, despite playing well in the SANFL as a key defender.

“We are open to whatever we have to do to get the right matchup,” he said.

THILTHORPE TO BE UNLEASHED FULL TIME

Adelaide is set to unleash Riley Thilthorpe from the start on Friday night against Essendon after his promising cameo in his first game after his long-term knee injury.

The Crows’ highest ever draft pick got his first taste of AFL action in 2024 against St Kilda on Saturday after his long-term knee injury suffered in pre-season.

The hulking key forward began the game at Adelaide Oval as the sub, coming on in the final quarter of the Crows’ win.

In a quarter he kicked two goals and had seven disposals to get Crows’ fans excited about what is in store for the 22-year-old if he can stay injury free.

Burns hinted that Thilthorpe was in line to be in the 22 when the Crows take on the Bombers at Marvel Stadium.

“We will go through match committee but you would hope so, that is the progression for him,” he said.

“It was really pleasing, let give him a bit of time out in the middle and a taste for it again

because it has been a long time, it has been 18 to 20 weeks since he played and that was only practice game.

“So he just needed a bit of a taste of it, it is a six-day turnaround as well which we took into account.

Riley Thilthorpe of the Crows celebrates a goal on return against the Saints. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

“So hopefully he should be quite fresh and ready to go on Friday night.”

Burns said the Crows could have gone with Thilthorpe in their 22 against the Saints.

But he said this was all part of a plan to best manage the young gun with an eye to next season.

“We could have but we are doing everything we think is right for Riley going forward,” he said.

“It was a pretty serious injury and there aren’t too many games left for us in the season so we have do right by him so come the end of the season he has had a good half a dozen of games and feels really good about himself going into the off-season.”

Burns sang the praises of debutant Hugh Bond, who impressed in a lockdown role on dangerous Saints forward Jack Higgins.

“It was an outstanding debut, Jack Higgins is averaging three to three and a half shots at goal a game and is an outstanding small forward,” he said.

“And in those conditions, a small defender if you are isolated deep it only takes one slip or shift and you are out of position and those experienced small forwards can easily control the drop of the ball.

“So I thought he was outstanding … it was a great first game for the young fella.”

Originally published as Port Adelaide dealt blow as Jeremy Finlayson set to miss rest of season with lacerated spleen