Geelong star Patrick Dangerfield has been overruled by the club’s medical staff after putting his hand up to play a week after suffering a cracked rib and a partially collapsed lung.
The captain’s first game in six weeks was ruined last Thursday night when he was hurt during a marking contest in the second quarter of the loss against Port Adelaide.
Dangerfield bravely played out the match at Adelaide Oval but was forced to drive the eight hours home to Moggs Creek, rather than flying with the rest of the team, due to the severity of his injuries.
Cats coach Chris Scott was optimistic the 33-year-old would be available for next week’s round-16 match against Sydney but said the player would miss the clash with Melbourne at GMHBA Stadium on Thursday night.
“I fully expected him to declare himself fit, which he did, and he was just overruled on that one,” Scott said.
“Not by as wide a margin as I expected.
“He thinks he could play. As is often the case with those guys, you’ve got to save them from themselves.
“(The medicos) say if the game was Sunday, Monday then he’d probably be OK to play, so that’s a good sign for the following week.”
Geelong assistant coach Nigel Lappin famously played in the 2003 grand final for the Brisbane Lions with a broken rib, complicated by suffering a punctured lung during a pre-game fitness test.
But Scott said clubs did a better job of protecting injured players than they did during his own playing days.
“I don’t mind saying publicly, I just have absolutely no desire to put any of our players out on the ground who are inhibited,” he said.
“That is a product of the past. It happened way too much in bygone eras – and we’re not going to let it happen at our club.
“So Paddy could have declared himself fit and demanded that he was going to play but if this were a grand final, we still wouldn’t let him play.”
The blockbuster clash with the Demons – Scott’s 300th as Geelong coach – is a vital one for the 10th-placed Cats as they attempt to stay in touch with the top eight.
Last week’s defeat to the Power left Geelong 6-7 in their premiership defence.
While Geelong lose Dangerfield, they will welcome back premiership ruckman Rhys Stanley for his first game since he suffered a fractured right eye socket in April.
“It’s exciting for us,” Scott said.
“We literally did not have a ruckman on our list (against Port) besides (Mark) Blicavs, so getting Rhys back is going to be a real bonus for how we choose to play.”
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
After being comfortably beaten in the corresponding match last year, Melbourne will take the unusual step of spending the night in Geelong on Wednesday and training at GMHBA Stadium, a notoriously difficult ground for travelling clubs.
Star midfielder Clayton Oliver has been ruled out of returning for the Demons after missing the King’s Birthday win against Collingwood due to an infected blister that hospitalised him for almost a week.
It will be the fourth-straight match Oliver has sat out after initially injuring his hamstring against Port Adelaide in round 10.
However, Melbourne did recall versatile Harrison Petty who has been out since injuring his foot in the Demons’ round-nine win against Hawthorn.
(AAP)
Star Port Adelaide midfielder Ollie Wines says it hurts to see Tom Jonas out of the senior side, but he’s confident the respected captain will soon force his way back in.
Jonas is yet to win back his spot after being sensationally left out for the round 11 clash with Hawthorn.
The sight of Jonas running around in the SANFL has been unusual for his teammates to watch, and it remains to be seen whether the 32-year-old will earn a recall for next week’s clash with Essendon at the MCG.
Making Jonas’ task tougher is the fact that ladder leaders Port Adelaide (12-2) are on a club-record 11-match winning streak.
Wines has been filling in as captain during Jonas’ absence, and he will happily hand over the reigns when the 211-game veteran wins back an AFL berth.
“To see him not in the ones at the moment hurts me a little bit,” Wines told reporters on Wednesday.
“Jonas is our captain and is an incredible leader, and he’s gotten us to where we are today.
“We really feel for him. There’s a lot of other guys as well we feel for.
“That’s what good clubs are built on – understanding what’s best for the team at the time.
“We know Tom will get back into form and … I’ve got full faith Tom will force his way back into the team.”
(Photo by Jono Searle/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
Wines has been a solid fill-in as captain, despite not being able to replicate the elite form he displayed during his 2021 Brownlow medal campaign.
The 28-year-old is averaging 23.4 possessions and 3.9 clearances per game this season, with Wines still working his way back to full fitness after undergoing surgery on his left knee at the end of last year.
“It’s probably a 12-month injury to be honest,” Wines said.
“It’s just something that’s going to take time. A bit of a rest is going to do it well.”
Power coach Ken Hinkley is out of contract at the end of this season, with talks about an extension put on hold until later this year.
Wines said the situation wasn’t a distraction.
“Our priority is playing finals, winning finals, and winning a premiership,” Wines said.
“Everything in the background will take care of itself, it won’t impact us.”
Wines said the current gameplan under Hinkley was clear and simple – but definitely not easy to execute.
“It’s probably physically the hardest game style I’ve ever played throughout my career,” Wines said.
“We make a commitment at the start of games to knuckle down for two-and-a-half, three hours of genuine pain.
“That’s what it takes to play our game style, but we reap the rewards.”
(AAP)
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