AFL News: Rutten keen to stay but Lloyd wants Clarkson at Bombers, Cameron out, Gray, Edwards retiring, Fyfe back?

Ben Rutten says speculation he could soon be sacked as Essendon coach isn’t ideal but he remains committed to finishing the AFL season.

Rutten’s tenure as coach of the Bombers is under intense pressure after a board spill on Monday.

Paul Brasher, one of Rutten’s biggest supporters, has been replaced as the club’s president by David Barham.

The new regime has announced an external football department review amid widespread speculation the Bombers will try and lure four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson.

“It’s not ideal obviously,” Rutten told the Nine Network as he arrived at Essendon training on Tuesday.

“I have got the confidence of the players. I have got a job to do and I am going to coach to the best I can in the next five days.”

(Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Bombers captain Dyson Heppell said Rutten remained supported by the players.

“He has certainly got all our support,” Heppell said when arriving at training.

“We will see how things pan out over the coming weeks and see what goes on.”

Essendon will miss this year’s finals – they’re 15th on the ladder ahead of their last game this season, against Richmond on Saturday night.

Clarkson, who coached Hawthorn to four flags before taking time away from the sport this year, is also being sought by North Melbourne and GWS.

And Essendon great Matthew Lloyd believed Clarkson’s confrontational style was exactly what the Bombers need.

Lloyd does not believe Rutten, who is nearing the end of his second year as Essendon coach and is contracted for 2023, will survive beyond this weekend.

“He (Clarkson) is the best candidate out there,” Lloyd told Sportsday on Monday night.

“Alastair is quite a confronting person … to me, that is what this football club needs because they’ve made little minor adjustments but at the end of the day it doesn’t get the club anywhere.

“My opinion is, on what I’ve seen this year, I wouldn’t go with Ben Rutten next year.”

Essendon have not won a final since 2004 but Lloyd was heartened by Barham’s appointment as president.

“This is the first time that you think things could seriously change for the better,” he said.

(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Cameron, Stanley under injury clouds

Geelong are racing against the clock to have two stars fit for the AFL finals, with Jeremy Cameron and Rhys Stanley both under injury clouds.

Key forward Cameron suffered a low-grade right hamstring strain during the final stages of last week’s big win over Gold Coast.

It is the same leg in which he suffered three hamstring injuries last year.

The minor premier Cats expect Cameron to be fit for their qualifying final in week one, with the 29-year-old having three weeks to recover from the setback.

“We chose to take a no-risk policy and decided not to have him return to the field,” Geelong medical and conditioning boss Harry Taylor said.

“Jeremy has assessed well, and scans confirmed low-level fluid consistent with a minor strain.

“We will track his progress through the week and he will be managed according to benchmark measures.”

The setback rules Cameron out of Coleman Medal contention.

The former GWS forward has kicked 59 goals for the season – three fewer than Charlie Curnow – and would have been a good chance to overtake the Carlton star at the top of the leaderboard with a big haul against lowly West Coast at GHMBA Stadium on Saturday.

Stanley will also miss the Eagles clash, having suffered a low-grade strain to his adductor.

“Rhys will begin a reconditioning program that we expect will have him available for selection for the first final,” Taylor said.

Back-up ruckman Jonathon Ceglar is in the frame to replace Stanley in the Geelong team, while Esava Ratugolea is also fit if required but has been playing as a key defender in the VFL.

Edwards bowing out at Tigers

Richmond great Shane Edwards is set to retire when the Tigers’ AFL finals campaign ends.

One of just five Tigers to have played 300 VFL/AFL, 33-year-old Edwards signalled the looming end to his decorated career in a statement on Tuesday.

“It is time for me to step aside and move on just as players did for me when I started,” Edwards said.

“I am trying to play to the best of my ability out there but it is pretty obvious to me that I won’t be helping us move forward next year.”

Richmond hold seventh spot on the ladder ahead of their last home-and-away game on Saturday night against Essendon.

Edwards was picked by the Tigers in the 2006 national draft from South Australia and has been a mainstay as the club rose from the bottom of the ladder to win three premierships.

Edwards received votes in the Norm Smith Medal, awarded to the best player in the grand final, in two of Richmond’s three premierships in 2017, 2019 and 2020.

“I have won (three) premierships and a few wooden spoons and finished everywhere in between as well,” he said.

“The club has given me everything, it has changed my life forever.

” … When I look back on my career, what I think of is how lucky I have been. I have never really had a big injury and I got to come to a big club with really passionate supporters.”

Edwards, the first Indigenous member of Richmond’s 300-game club, has played 301 AFL games and was an All Australian in 2018.

“The journey he came on reflects us as a club and what we have achieved … it resembles everything we have become,” Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said.

“What we have gained from Shane is incredible insight as individuals and about Indigenous culture as well.

“(And) the way he came in and impacted games when we needed a spark is the one thing I will remember from Shane as a player.

“There is nothing more comforting as a coach than having a player you know you can count on.”

Gray hanging up boots

Port Adelaide’s most decorated AFL player, Robbie Gray, is retiring.

Gray, a four-time All Australian and triple club champion, will play his last AFL game on Saturday night against Adelaide.

The 34-year-old told teammates of his decision before Port’s training session on Tuesday.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities I’ve had over the journey with this club,” Gray said in a statement.

“I have got some amazing friends and memories that I’ll take with me forever.

“But it’s time for others to get their chance now.”

The 270-gamer will end his AFL career second on the club’s all-time goalkicking list behind Warren Tredrea and having played the fourth-most AFL games for the Power.

Port coach Ken Hinkley lauded Gray’s influence on the club.

“I said last week that in my opinion Rob has been the greatest player at our football club in the AFL era and I stick by that,” Hinkley said in a statement.

“His record demands that kind of recognition.

“I have never seen anyone who can make our great game look so simple and do such difficult things with such ease.

“We have been able to count on him to deliver in the big moments and he has won so many awards and accolades, yet he remains the most humble, team-first player.”

Fyfe looks fine to return

Fremantle are a good chance to regain captain Nat Fyfe for Saturday’s important meeting with GWS in Canberra.

Fyfe is close to recovering from a hamstring injury and faces a test later this week, while Roy Lobb is in some doubt after being substituted out of last week’s derby win over West Coast.

“Rory’s been dealing with a few knocks and bruises through his chest and shoulder region, so he’ll be a test to play this week,” Dockers high performance manager Phil Merriman said.

“Nathan’s got to get through training on Wednesday, and if so, he should be available to play.”

The sixth-placed Dockers need to beat GWS and rely on other results falling their way in order to sneak into the top-four.

The Giants have lost Tanner Bruhn (concussion) and Lachlan Keeffe (groin) for their last game of the season, while Tim Taranto and James Peatling are likely to return from concussion protocols.

Ruckman Braydon Preuss faces a test after missing last week with a shoulder complaint.

Bobby Hill is a chance to play in the VFL on Saturday, having increased his training loads after undergoing surgery for testicular cancer at the start of June.

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