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.”
Patrick Dangerfield of the Cats is tackled by Luke Parker of the Swans. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
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.”
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 is no certainty to return for the Demons after missing the King’s Birthday win against Collingwood due to an infected blister that hospitalised him for almost a week.
Dynamic Adelaide utility Josh Rachele has signed a four-year contract extension with the AFL club.
Already signed through 2025, Rachele’s new deal ties him to the Crows until the end of the 2029 season.
The 20-year-old follows young teammates Jake Soligo, Chayce Jones, Max Michalanney and Harry Schoenberg in announcing fresh contracts in the past week.
Victoria-born Rachele was pick six at the 2021 national draft and has played 26 AFL games in his first two seasons.
“I’m really happy with where the club is heading,” Rachele said in a statement on Wednesday. “That shows with the number of signings we’ve announced in the last couple of weeks.
Josh Rachele of the Crows celebrates a goal. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
“The club has been really good with my family and I have enjoyed my time here so much, I had no intentions of going home at all.”
Adelaide’s list manager Justin Reid said Rachele’s new deal was a coup for the Crows.
“We’ve all seen the class that Josh brings to our team,” Reid said.
“He is a constant threat around goal when he’s playing forward and has shown his ball-winning ability in the midfield as well as a strong defensive mindset to pressure and tackle the opposition.
“As impressive as he has been in his first two seasons, there is still a lot of growth to come in his game and we are thrilled that it will continue to be in a Crows guernsey.”
Essendon could be without ruckman Sam Draper against Fremantle as he struggles to overcome a lingering hip issue, as the Bombers welcome back gun midfielder Darcy Parish from injury.
Draper was substituted out of Essendon’s win against Carlton in round 13, with coach Brad Scott indicating he would prefer to get the dynamic 24-year-old fully fit rather than play him hampered.
Parish will return after missing five games with a calf injury. He trained well on Wednesday but teammate Draper wasn’t on the track.
Losing Draper would be a hefty blow to Essendon’s hopes against the Dockers, who should regain big man Sean Darcy (hamstring) to partner Luke Jackson at Optus Stadium on Saturday.
“I’m not as positive on Drapes as I am Darcy (Parish),” Scott told reporters. “He has been getting out there and playing but we’re just concerned that he’s a really dynamic player.
“We want him at his best and he has been struggling with a niggle.
“Unless he presents really well and proves he’s 100 per cent right to go, then we’ll probably err on the side of getting him right.
“We’d love to have him out there but again, he’s just a really important player for us and we’ve been really consistent throughout this year that we want players out there at their best.”
Scott said Draper’s condition had improved after the bye but the injury could take a couple more weeks to clear up.
“This stage of the season, we’re better off getting it right, as long as that takes. It’s really difficult to give you a time frame,” he said.
“It could be next week, could be longer. The only reason we’re vague is because we don’t know ourselves.”
Young tall Nick Bryan could be called up to partner Andrew Phillips, with the Bombers generally preferring two rucks.
“Fremantle are a very good clearance side,” Scott said. “When they play their best they’re pretty dominant in that part of the game. So that usually starts with the ruck options.
Sam Draper. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Parish averaged 33.5 disposals and 8.5 clearances before his injury and should slot back into a midfield that has stood up in his absence.
“He should be (back). That’s been our loose plan all along, post-bye, and he’s done a power of work. It’s been a pretty conservative rehab,” Scott said.
“He’s trained really well through the bye week and he’ll train again today and we expect to select him tomorrow.”
Dylan Shiel (foot) appears unlikely to return, with Scott keen for the dashing midfielder to regain full fitness before throwing him back into the fray.
Tim Membrey may not play again until just before the AFL finals, with St Kilda shelving the forward as he battles a troublesome knee injury.
Ahead of Friday night’s AFL clash with the Brisbane Lions at Marvel Stadium, Saints coach Ross Lyon said Membrey had been put into a training block for the next eight weeks.
The 29-year-old has only managed four games this season due to knee soreness, while he also suffered a heavy head knock in his most recent AFL runout against Adelaide last month.
Membrey had minor knee surgery before the start of the season, not playing his first game of the year until round six.
“He’s got a bit of a long-term knee management, but nothing significant,” Lyon said on Wednesday. “He just hasn’t been comfortable and confident.
“We probably pushed his return a little bit so we’ve decided to give him a training block for eight weeks. Get the strength and get the run and get his confidence back up, as a leader of the club; get him feeling good. We’ve committed to that.”
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Lyon said Membrey could return earlier if he hit rehabilitation targets.
The fifth-placed Saints are coming off a 20-point loss to Richmond while Brisbane, who sit fourth on the ladder, snapped a two-game losing streak last round against Sydney.
Lyon said he felt “optimistic” after his side’s performance against the resurgent Tigers.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win … sometimes talent just gets you, like (Jayden) Short’s kicking them from 60m and there was a couple of turnovers,” he said.
“Disappointed we didn’t get what we wanted, which was four points, but we certainly learned and we grew.”
The Saints haven’t had consecutive wins – or losses – since their unbeaten run was broken in round five, but Lyon said he wasn’t getting caught up by the pattern
“I don’t get stuck on wins and losses … if your previous result counted for the next we wouldn’t be losing after a win.
“We maybe stuffed up 20 minutes last week and it was very costly so we’re looking to play the full 100 minutes.”
Jeremy McGovern is set to headline a host of massive ins for West Coast this week as the Eagles attempt to salvage a semblance of pride from their disastrous AFL season.
McGovern has been sidelined since tearing his hamstring in the round-three western derby loss to Fremantle.
The four-time All-Australian is back in full training and barring any late setbacks will return in Saturday’s clash with Sydney at the SCG.
Fellow defenders Tom Barrass (hip) and Liam Duggan (infected leg) are also set to join McGovern in the side in what would be a huge triple boost on the back of the embarrassing 122-point loss to Adelaide before the bye.
That defeat – the biggest in coach Adam Simpson’s 10-year reign – was West Coast’s 11th-straight loss.
It left the Eagles at the bottom of the ladder with a 1-12 record and a woeful percentage of 51.4.
But with McGovern, Barrass and Duggan all set to return this week – and with Elliot Yeo, Luke Shuey and Jack Darling having made recent comebacks – West Coast will finally be able to field a competitive side.
Young midfielder Elijah Hewett (concussion) is another player who is available for selection this week, while Shannon Hurn (hamstring) is on track for next week.
Jeremy McGovern of the Eagles is assisted off the field in Round 3. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Jamie Cripps (ankle) and Tom Cole (ankle) are set to return in the next two to four weeks.
“If there was a game last week, I reckon he (McGovern) would have played a bit of WAFL,” Simpson told the club’s website.
“The guys returning are quality players who we have missed – McGovern, Barrass, Duggan, Hurn, Cripps, Cole.
“The standard has lifted at training, that’s for sure. They’re quality players and really hard to replace.”
With a host of West Coast stars on the verge of returning, there’s renewed hope the Eagles can avoid the wooden spoon.
North Melbourne currently sit a win and 18.2 per cent ahead of West Coast, with the two struggling sides set to clash in Perth in round 20.
Eagles forward Jake Waterman, who spent eight days in hospital with a stomach infection, is likely to miss at least one or two more weeks, while Liam Ryan (hamstring) faces a fight to play again this year.
Ruckman Nic Naitanui has already been ruled out for the season after undergoing surgery on his troublesome Achilles.
Defender Luke Foley will miss two to three weeks with a hamstring injury, while Greg Clark (foot) is expected to be sidelined for three to five weeks.
Simpson confirmed mid-season draftee Ryan Maric, who booted two goals against Adelaide, would keep his spot in the side against the Swans.
with AAP
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