Struggling Carlton may need to cope with the return of Essendon greatest and fairest Peter Wright on Sunday, with the Bombers set to unleash the “frustrated” star ahead.
Essendon is on the verge of the highest 4 after Sunday’s last-gasp win over North Melbourne and will put a last nail in Carlton’s finals hopes, with the bumbling Blues having misplaced seven of their previous eight video games.
Wright, who hasn’t performed a sport this season after a shoulder damage on the eve of spherical 1, was “medically available” to play the Kangaroos, however Bombers coach Brad Scott opted to relaxation him.
But after Sunday’s conflict, Essendon has a bye, and conceding his 203cm star ahead, who kicked 53 targets in a breakout season in 2022, was eager to play, Scott could be hard-pressed to make him wait three extra weeks.
“There‘s no medical reason why he’s not available but it’s about risk and reward, and we’ll continue to weigh up what that looks like,” Scott stated after Sunday’s win.
“He’s now at the stage where he’s getting frustrated and he wants to play, so that’s always a good sign.
“But we’ve been really consistent with our longer-term injuries that we’d be really conservative in getting them back.”
Essendon has been effectively served by low season recruit Sam Weideman (13 targets) and Kyle Langford (20 targets), who Scott stated had been “exceptional” in Wright‘s absence.
But Scott said that duo would also welcome a return for Wright, who would attract the opposition’s greatest defender and probably make the Bombers ahead line much more potent.
“They’ve really held down key forward posts and been really threatening in their own right,” Scott stated.
“But even Kyle and Sam would say it would be nice to have Pete back.”
Scott downplayed the subbing out of midfielder Dylan Shiel, who returned in opposition to North Melbourne after a fortnight on the sidelines with an ankle damage.
Shiel solely had 10 disposals by the opening time period and his substitution allowed alternative Massimo D’Ambrosio to kick the matchwinning objective.
“It was (Shiel’s) first game back and to be honest we went through just about our entire team,” Scott stated.
“We had to make a decision to get Massimo into the game and he clearly had a big impact, ended up kicking a really important goal.
“It was just a process of elimination and everyone was pretty much important to us.
“It became, ‘Shiel’s missed the last couple so let’s manage him back in’. It’s nothing more or less than that.”
Originally revealed as Just outdoors the AFL high 4, Essendon needs to be boosted by a star’s return
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
