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Richmond’s stocks for Friday night’s blockbuster clash with Collingwood have copped a further battering after star duo Dustin Martin and Jacob Hopper were ruled out of action.
Martin was subbed out of last Saturday’s win over Adelaide with a hamstring issue, and the club has ruled him out this week with what they have labelled “general soreness”.
The 31-year-old missed seven weeks last season with a hamstring injury, and the Tigers aren’t willing to take any risks with the 2017 Brownlow medallist.
Hopper injured his knee last week, and Richmond were breathing a sigh of relief when the setback turned out to be minor.
Nevertheless, the former GWS midfielder will miss the match against the Magpies with both Hopper and Martin expected to return in round four against the Western Bulldogs.
The absence of Martin and Hopper against Collingwood comes on top of the losses of Jayden Short and Nathan Broad.
Short is out with a calf injury, while Broad was handed a four-match suspension for his sling tackle on Patrick Parnell.
In a rare dose of good news on the injury front, forward Tom Lynch is expected to play despite copping a cork last week.
The unbeaten Magpies are sweating on the fitness of forward Brody Mihocek (finger).
Under-siege coach Luke Beveridge is adamant the Western Bulldogs will rebound from their 0-2 slump, despite admitting surprise to how poorly the season has started.
The Bulldogs face a massive test on Thursday night when they host Brisbane at Marvel Stadium.
After going down to Melbourne in round one, the Bulldogs were out-worked by underdogs St Kilda last Saturday and only have a five-day break to re-group.
The Lions are coming off an impressive start to their win over the Demons, with Melbourne captain Max Gawn noting his team was mauled at stoppages.
Sam Darcy of the Bulldogs. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images )
The Bulldogs’ slow start inevitably means the media spotlight is on Beveridge, who signed a two-year extension in the off-season.
“I’m aware it’s reasonably intense – I welcome it, it’s part of my role,” Beveridge said of the media scrutiny. “There are no rebuttals, there’s no use me arguing against it.
“Basically we haven’t started the year well. Does it affect my belief in myself as a coach? Absolutely not. We’re in a really good place to rebound out of it.”
Beveridge said the Bulldogs’ offence had not been at its best and their team defence also needed improvement.
“It’s striking a balance between making sure they have clarity, the boys, (about) tomorrow night and also understanding the pressing need to make sure we give a really strong account of themselves,” he said.
“It’s more the nature of the losses that have everyone up in arms. As much as it’s surprised us to a significant degree, we’ve been here before where we’ve had a little trough and then we’ve come out of it pretty quickly.
“I’m really confident that’s going to happen.”
But whatever is going wrong at the kennel, Beveridge is adamant fitness is not the problem. “It has been a real surprise that we just haven’t been able to play the quarters out, in the phases, for as long as we absolutely believe we could,” he said. “But we have no concerns that we’re capable of it.”
Thursday night will be the first time the Bulldogs come up against former teammate Josh Dunkley, but Beveridge said nothing special will be made of it.
“I will steer clear of it – there are too many imperatives and priorities for us to make sure we get right for there to be this by-play. We need to get our stuff right … Josh will be just another Brisbane player.”
Beveridge said the mood at the club remains positive, despite the early-season hole. “In a sense, they (players) absolutely feel that we’ve all let our supporter-base down. We’re looking to atone and make amends, but the mood is terrific,” he said.
“When you consider the ebb and sway of the results, we absolutely believe we can test the Lions out.”
Forward Arthur Jones will make his AFL debut with fellow Indigenous player Jamarra Ugle-Hagan presenting him with his guernsey at training.
The coach also confirmed Ugle-Hagan would play after a fan racially abused him during the St Kilda match.
SANFL club Norwood has emerged as an unlikely contender to be one of the AFL’s next two expansion teams.
Tasmania is all but certain to become the 19th team in the competition in the next few years although their long-running bid for admission is still yet to be approved.
Norwood has been touted as a potential 20th club down the track in opposition to other options such as Darwin and Canberra with South Australian sports commentator Chris Dittmar claiming on Triple M Adelaide Breakfast that plans have been hatched for the Redlegs to make the leap into the big league.
“There’s an SANFL club putting together a bid, I believe, a group of business people attempting to get into the AFL. I’m led to believe there’s a group of Norwood businesspeople. When Port Adelaide went in, there was a lot of talk at the time.
“There was a joint bid at some time, Port and Norwood were talking together at one point. And then both went separately.”
Adelaide Crows entered what was then the VFL in 1991 with Port Adelaide joining the AFL in 1997.
Norwood, founded in 1878, are the reigning SANFL champs after winning their 31st flag last year.
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Luckless Giants utility Jacob Wehr will be sidelined for at least two months after breaking his scapula in their round two loss to West Coast.
The 24-year-old was flattened in their season-opening win by Shane McAdam, with the Adelaide Crow rubbed out for three weeks for the unlawful bump.
Wehr regrouped to take on the Eagles, but was subbed out in the second quarter of their 19-point loss with a suspected AC joint injury after a hit by Liam Duggan.
Giants coach Adam Kingsley confirmed the diagnosis for the young South Australian following scans.
Jacob Wehr. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
“That’s really disappointing for a young guy who’s finding his way,” Kingsley said on Tuesday. “I’ve been really pleased with him on the wing, so to have him missing is disappointing, but that’s footy.”
Tempering his absence is the expected return of All Australian duo Lachie Whitfield and Josh Kelly for Saturday afternoon’s clash with Carlton at Giants Stadium.
They both missed the trip west after concussion symptoms from round one.
“They’re progressing well through their protocols, but they’ve still got one or two things to tick off before they’re cleared,” Kingsley said.
“They’ve been able to do a little bit, not with the squad yet but in their own training.
“They’ve been able to run, a little bit of the footy, but the next progression will be being ticked off to train with the group on Thursday.
“Speaking to both of them, they seem like they’re both fine without any issues whatsoever.”
The first-year coach said he was considering personnel changes as he looked to provide more marking support for Jesse Hogan and Toby Greene.
He said No.1 draft pick Aaron Cadman was a chance for selection despite only booting one goal in their 80-point VFL loss to Essendon, with Kingsley noting he had limited chances.
Th coach said bringing in a forward/second ruck in Kieren Briggs was an option after his VFL showing, particularly with the Blues potentially including two ruckmen in Tom De Koning and Marc Pittonet.
“He’s been really strong at VFL level, particularly with the defensive aspect and the follow-up stuff, which is really the key part of the game for him with his athleticism,” Kingsley said of Briggs.
“‘Flynny’ (Matt Flynn) has been really good for us as the first ruck and I’ve been really pleased with his game so far, so there’s a chance it could happen.”
With Carlton edging champions Geelong last round, Kingsley described taking on the Blues as a “huge challenge”.
“They played really well against the reigning premiers,” he said.
“They looked really sharp, they’re strong in the contest and really good on the outside, so they’ll challenge us in different areas.
“But we trust the way we play and feel we’re making some progress.”
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