Brisbane shall be with out veterans Dayne Zorko and Daniel Rich for his or her enormous conflict with Carlton, whereas Port Adelaide midfielder Xavier Duursma has been sidelined for as much as 10 weeks with a knee damage.
The Lions’ large win over Fremantle got here at a value with Zorko straining his hamstring and Rich struggling a calf pressure, with the pair sidelined for 3 weeks by way of damage.
To coach Chris Fagan’s reduction, the silver lining for Zorko is the pressure is to his left hamstring and never his proper – which he injured through the pre-season and dominated him out of spherical one.
The pair’s absence is a blow for fourth-placed Brisbane, who journey to face sixth-placed Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Friday night time.
Fagan was ready to imitate Geelong’s cautious method to senior gamers, like their cautious administration of Patrick Dangerfield final 12 months, to make sure Zorko and Rich have been primed to make an impression when it mattered.
“We’ve got to be smart about it and Geelong were terrific, the way they managed their players last year, there’s no doubt about that,” he informed Fox Footy.
“If we get to week three and it’s touch-and-go whether he should play or not, I think the decision is don’t play. It’s as simple as that.
“We will not be taking dangers with these guys. You’ve bought to develop depth in your squad and their absence will give the chance for another guys which have been taking part in properly in our reserves.”
Duursma has torn his posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and will be out for eight-to-10 weeks.
The 22-year-old hurt his knee in a heavy collision with Saints ruckman Rowan Marshall and was emotional when he had to be subbed out of the game during quarter-time.
He had played all seven games this season after only featuring 22 times in total across 2021 and 2022.
But Todd Marshall will return from concussion against Essendon.
Fremantle’s Nat Fyfe could return from his troublesome foot injury against Hawthorn.
The Dockers confirmed Fyfe, who has played just one game, was a “take a look at” to either play at AFL or WAFL level.
“Nat’s foot pulled up rather well from a step up on the weekend,” Merriman mentioned.
“He shall be foremost coaching this week, with a plan for him to play soccer this weekend.”
Talented young defender Heath Chapman is set for an extended stint on the sidelines after injuring his hamstring when he was on the verge of returning from a calf injury.
“Unfortunately for Chappy, on the again finish of final week’s coaching session he had an incident and it ended up being a average to high-grade hamstring damage,” Merriman mentioned.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
