By Peter Ryan, Marnie Vinall and Malcolm Conn
In today’s AFL Briefing, your wrap of footy news:
- Tom De Koning will miss at least the rest of the home and away season
- The changing of the leadership guard continues for the Bulldogs’ AFLW side
- The Swans are reeling after bad news on the injury front
- Carlton, Adelaide and the Lions have been issued with “please explains” from the AFL over concussion protocols
Ruck star De Koning out for home-and-away season
Peter Ryan
Carlton will turn to Marc Pittonet in the ruck after a fractured foot sidelined star ruckman Tom De Koning until the end of the home-and-away season.
Ruckman Tom De Koning played a significant role in Carlton’s hard-fought win over North MelbourneCredit: AFL Photos
The 25-year-old had scans on Monday morning after spending the night in hospital due to a collapsed lung. He is recovering well from the lung issue, but the foot injury is expected to take until the pre-finals bye to heal.
The second-placed Blues remain optimistic that De Koning will be available for the finals, should they qualify and his recovery goes well. He will be further assessed in that pre-finals bye.
He suffered the internal injury near the end of his side’s hard-fought win over the Kangaroos. After he revealed he was short of breath following the game, he was sent straight to hospital.
Carlton football manager Brad Lloyd said De Koning would bounce back from the disappointment.
“Tom reported symptoms of being unwell within half an hour of the game finishing, so the priority for us was immediately ensuring he got the treatment he needed, and he is now recovering with the appropriate care around him,” Lloyd said.
“Tom will undergo surgery this week to correct his foot injury, which we expect will sideline him for the remainder of the home-and-away season, and we will continue to monitor his recovery over that period of time.”
He was treated overnight, is making good progress and will make a full recovery.
The 25-year-old has become one of the game’s premier ruckmen in the past 18 months, so his loss would have a big impact on the club’s run into the finals.
De Koning received treatment for the foot injury but returned and had a huge influence in the third quarter as Carlton turned the match around having trailed the Kangaroos at half-time.
However, the Blues are in a better position to replace him than most of the top four, with Pittonet ready to assume rucking duties in the lead-in to the finals as the Blues face Port Adelaide this Friday night.
They also play Collingwood, Hawthorn, West Coast and St Kilda as they attempt to earn a double chance and potentially a home final.
Pittonet has played eight games so far this season, mainly in tandem with De Koning, and played in the VFL with the Blues against Collingwood on Sunday. Carlton won the only game he rucked solo this season when they defeated Richmond in round 17.
Swans suffer major blow with Papley to miss at least a month
Malcolm Conn
The Sydney Swans will be without vital goal sneak Tom Papley for up to six weeks after scans on Monday evening revealed he had suffered a medial ankle ligament injury in Sunday’s dramatic two-point loss to last year’s grand finalists Brisbane.
Tom Papley is helped off against the Lions on Sunday.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
His loss is a major blow for the ladder-leading Swans, who have lost three of their past four matches by a total of five points as their injury list grows.
Dane Rampe was subbed out before half-time with calf tightness and will be assessed by Swans medical staff on Tuesday, while Will Hayward suffered a lateral ankle sprain in the second quarter but played out the match. He must pass a fitness test to be available for Sunday’s match against the Western Bulldogs at the SCG.
Defensive midfielder James Rowbottom, the Swans’ leading tackler, must also pass a fitness test later this week after missing the most recent game with a cheekbone injury.
Wingman Justin McInerney remains on the sidelines with a knee injury, although captain Callum Mills is expected to return after pulling up sore against North Melbourne the previous week in his first game this season following a Mad Monday shoulder injury.
Rampe is a key defender who often acts as the Swans’ quarterback, while Papley and Hayward are vital running forwards in a team that gets only modest service from their inexperienced attacking talls Joel Amartey, Logan McDonald and Hayden McLean.
Amartey is the Swans’ leading goalkicker this season with 35 – helped in no small part by his nine goals against Adelaide last month – but has managed just four goals in the past five games. McDonald has 29 goals and missed last-gasp shots to win games against Fremantle and St Kilda, while McLean, who pinch-hits in the ruck, has 20.
The Swans rely heavily on their smaller players to kick goals. Papley and Hayward have 30 each, so their loss would be a significant blow, while midfielders Chad Warner (29) and Isaac Heeney (23) have also been significant contributors.
Swans coach John Longmire lamented poor kicking for goal in the two previous losses against St Kilda and Fremantle. The Swans had eight more scoring shots against the Saints and lost by two points, and four more against Fremantle to lose by one point.
While they have been able to overcome slow starts on several occasions this season, the Swans were jumped again by Brisbane last Sunday and trailed by 22 points at quarter-time before leading by 15 points at the last break.
With Rampe and Papley ruled out before half-time and Hayward clearly struggling, the Swans ran out of legs, with their efforts earning praise from Longmire after the match.
“I’m just really proud of our players,” Longmire said. “To have a contest like that, and you lose near-on three players early in the game, I thought was an outstanding effort by our players, absolutely outstanding.
“Sometimes you come off games and you’re really disappointed because of how you played and your effort wasn’t up to the level, but I couldn’t say that about our players [on Sunday].”
Bulldogs name new AFLW captain
Marnie Vinall
Change continues at the Western Bulldogs after last year’s disastrous, one-win season, with Deanna Berry appointed as captain to take over from Ellie Blackburn.
The captaincy switch is the latest change at the club since new coach Tamara Hyett was appointed. Nathan Burke departed as coach after the Dogs won just once last season.
Ellie Blackburn celebrates a goal.Credit: Getty Images
List manager Mick Sandry moved on at the end of last season, replaced by Dan Fisher, and high-profile players also departed in the off-season, including Kirsty Lamb, Gabby Newton, Katie Lynch and Celine Moody.
Berry’s appointment was the result of a lengthy selection process by the club as they search for on and off-field stability and success.
Deanna Berry is the new captain of the Bulldogs.Credit: Getty
Twenty-nine-year-old Blackburn had been at the helm for six seasons, first as co-captain in 2019 and then as sole skipper from 2020 onwards. She captained the Bulldogs to their first premiership in 2018 in the absence of Katie Brennan, and was voted the AFL Players Association best captain in 2021.
Blackburn, the sole remaining player from the club’s inaugural 2017 list, rejected an offer from expansion club Sydney in 2022 to stay at Whitten Oval and re-signed earlier this year on a four-year deal, seeing her through to the end of 2027.
The 26-year-old Berry said she was thrilled to take the reins and wanted to have an impact both on and off the field.
“I want to help drive the behaviours and the culture and the standards that we want to set as a club,” Berry said. “At the moment we are in an education phase, and I feel with my coaching background I can help the girls navigate through different situations.”
Patrice Berthold, general manager of women’s football at the Dogs, said the appointment was made after extensive consideration.
“Reflective of the changes across our women’s program in the off-season, we introduced a new and robust leadership selection process to help position the club with the best chance of success now and into the future across all on-field and off-field endeavours.
“‘De’ (Berry) emerged from this comprehensive process as the successful candidate, and we are excited for her to guide and help propel the team’s growth through this next chapter.”
Blackburn will remain in the leadership group.
Blues, Crows, Lions to get concussion ‘please explains’
AAP
Carlton have been issued with a “please explain” from the AFL regarding their management of star forward Harry McKay after a head knock.
The Brisbane Lions and Adelaide have also been asked to explain their handling of the league’s concussion protocols after incidents involving Lions co-captain Harris Andrews and Crows skipper Jordan Dawson, respectively.
Carlton’s Harry McKay on all fours after copping a knock in the third quarter against North Melbourne.Credit: Getty Images
“The AFL confirms that it will issue please explain letters to Adelaide in relation to Jordan Dawson on Friday night, Brisbane in relation to Harris Andrews on Sunday afternoon and Carlton in relation to Harry McKay on Sunday evening and the management of their respective concussion management protocols,” a league spokesperson said.
McKay took a hit to the face in a marking contest with North Melbourne player Eddie Ford on Sunday, which left the Blues goalkicker groggy.
He was slow to get to his feet but continued playing, kicking a goal before being called off the field for a head injury assessment.
He passed the test and returned, adding a second goal late in the match to seal Carlton’s important 19-point victory at Marvel Stadium.
Carlton coach Michael Voss had defended the club’s handling of McKay.
“What I do know is that the protocol is there, and we were notified that we needed to get him off the ground, so we got him off the ground, and he went into those protocols,” Voss said.
“Fortunately, he was able to respond, he was OK and he was able to keep the game going.”
McKay also told Fox Footy post-match he was “fine”.
A Blues spokesperson confirmed McKay had since passed further tests and is set to back up in their meeting with Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
Adelaide skipper Dawson copped a high knock from Essendon young gun Nate Caddy in the third quarter of Friday night’s thriller at Marvel Stadium.
He was dazed and was checked by medicos but didn’t leave the field for a concussion assessment at the time.
Dawson left the field in the fourth quarter and was later placed in concussion protocols.
Gun key defender Andrews came off the field in the fourth quarter of Brisbane’s win over Sydney.
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