Keep updated on post-game press conferences throughout the 2022 AFL season.
AAMI Community Series
CARLTON
Michael Voss on:
Matt Kennedy
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He was really really impressive, to be able to mark it the way that he did as well was really good.”
“His ability to be able to play in transition is something that he’s really grown in his game, we know that he’s been a real contested bull and he brings that.”
“But what he’s really gone to work on is playing both sides on the ball, it’s set him up really well.”
“He had a really good night tonight, there’s a group in there that are trying to form a strong nucleus about the way they go about things and he’s certainly been one of those guys.”
Mitch McGovern
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He just sees the game really well from behind the ball.”
“I guess we’ve got the benefit of being able to have some evidence across pre-season and so he’s taken on that role, he’s really embraced that role, he definitely he wants to play there and play an important role within our team.”
“Most teams are looking for that intercept type that can come off and mark the ball and he certainly provides some stability in the air and he uses the ball very well.”
“So he’ll compliment that back six.”
Corey Durdin
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Corey got a knock in the calf, so just weren’t prepared to be able to push that any further than what we did.”
“You just don’t want to take any risks, so we’ll take the more conservative approach.”
🔔LIVE: Carlton v Melbourne
Corey Durdin (Calf) Will not return @aflratings https://t.co/8oBFtghyyo
Jack Silvagni
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Jack got a bit banged up in his shoulder, so we just left that, again taking the same approach.”
Harry McKay
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Harry was always planned to have modified minutes in his game.”
Corey Durdin and Jack Silvagni
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Yep, absolutely (available for Round 1)”
Patrick Cripps
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “It’s all on the back of just the work that he’s done, he’s a pretty impressive individual, very competitive individual, very proud person.”
“He’s leading this group exceptionally well and he’s pretty determined to not only just bring this midfield group together but bring this team along, get to where we need to go.”
“That fact that he’s moving very well and you’re watching him, he’s dynamic, he’s going to prove a real threat to opposition.”
Sam Docherty
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “His progression has been quite sharp and it’s still about how he pulls up, but he showed some really good signs today which was great to see.”
“He’s done everything possible to be able to put himself in that position (to return).”
“Get another week of training under his belt then we can make some decisions from there.”
MELBOURNE
Simon Goodwin on:
Steven May, Michael Hibberd, Christian Salem, Trent Rivers, Harrison Petty and Jake Lever
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We’ll get May back, we’ll get Hibberd back, we’ll get Salem back.”
“The two that will miss (Round 1) will be (Trent) Rivers and (Harrison) Petty.”
“So we’ll get three of those guys back and that will help stabilise us and it was obviously (Jake) Lever’s first game tonight.”
Dan Turner
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He just had a sore foot, so we’ll have a look at that.”
“We just didn’t want to risk it, there was no incident but it just got sore.”
“We just want to make sure we get the right assessment before we push on.”
BRISBANE
Chris Fagan on:
Keidean Coleman, Deven Robertson, Daniel Rich and James Madden
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “A little bit early to assess, they look quite sore.”
“I think Dev and Keidean have both got hamstring type of injuries, Jimmy I’m not so sure of.”
“Daniel Rich we just rested in the last quarter.”
🔔LIVE: Western Bulldogs v Brisbane
Keidean Coleman (Hamstring) Will not return@aflratings https://t.co/KPM3K9Is7O
Cam Rayner, Darcy Gardiner and Dayne Zorko
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We expect Cam Rayner, Darcy Gardiner and Dayne Zorko all to be available for the first round.”
“So we’ve got some good players to come back in.”
Keidean Coleman
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He’s a good young player isn’t he, uses the ball well.”
Noah Answerth
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Noah Answerth played on the wing tonight but he’s got the capacity to go back to half-back, which he did.”
“He’s such a good competitor, and I think his last game was against the Sydney Swans at Cairns in 2020.”
“So he didn’t play in the AFL team at all last year due to a groin complaint.”
“He’s worked really hard to get his body strong again, he’s had a fantastic pre-season.”
“He played well last week, contributed strongly again tonight.”
“So we’re happy to have him back, he’s like a recruit for us.”
Darcy Fort and Oscar McInerney
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “They were good tonight, we’re hopeful that they can form a good combination.”
“And they’re still pretty handy up forward too, they bring the ball to ground and they can mark it as well.”
“I think we’ll keep going with that.”
“It’ll be very important (that combination), it was one of the reasons, a couple of reasons why we got Darcy Fort was to help us out because Eric (Hipwood) was going to be absent for a while but also because without our other ruckman on our list are young blokes and they’re not ready to play yet so we needed a guy like Darcy Fort as not only can he form a partnership with Oscar but he can actually take Oscar’s place and play in the AFL team in his own right if we need him to.”
“We think he’s been a good recruit, good man too.”
WESTERN BULLDOGS
Luke Beveridge on:
Alex Keath
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Keathy just had a significant kick to the shin and he wasn’t moving too well, we took a very conservative approach with that and had to take him off.”
“We think he’ll be okay, it’s nothing serious.”
“He came back on, he was a little bit limited and we just thought it was a better approach to remove him from the game.”
Zaine Cordy
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “I thought Zaine flipped over pretty well and stood up in the backline after he started forward.”
Tim English
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “But now we need Tim to play in the ruck (after split forward/ruck role last year).”
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Marra is not quite ready,”
“I don’t know how much AFL footy he’ll play this year, we’d like to play him as much as possible.”
Key Position Shortage
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We might have to do it a bit differently for a little while, and we’ve just got to take up that challenge.”
Ryan Gardner and Alex Keath
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “I think Gardy will be available, or we think. Alex Keathy should be fine.”
RICHMOND
Adam Kingsley on:
Noah Balta
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We were really happy with Noah, thought his ability as a forward to compete, bring the ball to ground, bring our crumber’s into play was really strong.”
“Obviously he’s made an AFL name for himself as a backman and been really important for us but we feel like we can stretch the opposition with the three keys Jack (Riewoldt), Tom (Lynch) and Noah.”
“And he competes, his aerial stuff is really important and his ground level stuff is really good for a big guy.”
“He showed a lot today, we’re really pleased with him.”
“I’d imagine he’s locked in for a start (Round 1) and I’m presuming that’s as a forward but we’ll discuss that as the week or the 10 days we’ve got before Round 1 wears on and work out the best fit for who we select and finalise in that forward line.”
“But he was really strong today, so I’d imagine he’ll play.”
Dustin Martin
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He was great particularly in the first half,”
“Dustin was really good for us playing through the midfield and a little bit forward, expect him to do the same in Round 1.”
Nick Vlastuin
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Expect Nick Vlastuin to get up for that Round 1 game, so he’ll find his way back into that back 7.”
Dylan Grimes
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Dylan got a knock on his thumb, Dylan Grimes, so we’ll look at that throughout the week.”
Ivan Soldo
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Soldo rolled an ankle but I can’t imagine that’s going to be an issue.”
Dion Prestia
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Didn’t notice, I think he’s fine, I haven’t heard anything that’s for sure.”
Jack Ross and Jake Aarts
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “I think Jack Ross and Jake Aarts have been the couple through the midfield who have really trained strongly over the whole pre-season, certainly played well and both their attack on the ball both of them today was really good to watch.”
Hugo Ralphsmith
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “From a backline perspective, Hugo Ralphsmith I think is developing.”
Josh Gibcus
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Certainly Gibcus has come in and seems to have taken that position, well have a discussion and wait on the VFL results from earlier on today.”
“But he seems to have taken a position there and he’s going quite well.”
Liam Baker
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We watch Baker today, he’s been a good player at AFL level already but he was outstanding today.”
“Hopefully he can go another step and take us further.”
HAWTHORN
Sam Mitchell on:
Josh Ward, Jaeger O’Meara and Tom Mitchell
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “So Josh Ward last week plays mostly on a wing, today just plays the whole game on-ball and really stood up for us.”
“I think he led the game with contested possessions and was really strong in there, we see some positives there.”
“I’m not going to be doing selection today, we’ll push that headache back another week or so.”
“We had Jaeger today out with he’s probably available with his hamstring (Round 1).”
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings“And then Tom Mitchell, he’s probably available (Round 1) with his
groin stuff that he’s got going on.”
“I think once we get those two guys back, they’re two of our most important players.”
“So once they come into the side it’s going to be a challenge to fit the mix and figure out how we want to play going into a pretty potent midfield that North Melbourne have with some of their young players coming through.”
Josh Ward and Connor MacDonald
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “The thing I like about Wardy, that whole young group, I think Connor MacDonald had 15 or 16 touches kicked a goal played in the forward line and he looked really dangerous for us today as well.”
“I think that young group collectively, their ability to learn and absorb information and to try and improve themselves, once we give them something to work on, they’re just so diligent and Wardy has been really working hard on his game to improve to make himself ready to play AFL standard football.”
“If he’s there yet, we’re not exactly sure but certainly everything about his game today has said that he’s ready for AFL footy.”
Harry Morrison
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “I think Harry Morrison has had a fantastic summer, we’ve used him in quite a few different roles.”
“He’s played backline a lot, spent some time on the wing which is probably his best position really.”
“But he’s been in defence through necessity so far.”
Jai Newcombe and Mitch Lewis
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “I think Jai Newcombe has taken another step, I think he’s only played 6 or 7 games as a player but I thought his toughness around the ball and his willingness to be involved in a contest today really stood out.”
“I think when you see the stat sheet he had 23 touches or something like that, but I thought his influence on the game to help us play the way we would like to play was significant.”
“And you mix that with Mitch Lewis who’s had a really good summer, he didn’t get a heap of the footy today, but his just ability to be in contests and have an aerial presence for us I thought was important again today.”
PORT ADELAIDE
Ken Hinkley on:
Jeremy Finlayson, Mitch Georgiades and Todd Marshall
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “It’s really pleasing for Jeremy because it’s his new club, obviously Mitch we know what he’s capable of, I thought Todd even the same.”
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “I thought the three tall’s together worked really well together and they got a little bit of ruck work between Todd and also Jeremy as well, so that gets us in a pretty reasonable position for Round 1.”
Lachie Jones and Tom Jonas
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “I really liked his game today, I thought he was made of men stuff, I thought it was a really tough performance by Lach, I think that’s his DNA, he plays his footy the way you like it played.”
“He’s not the most polished, he doesn’t look the most tidiest at times but he plays in the right manner I think and I think with Tom Jonas down there leading I think he understands how to play footy.”
Midfield
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “It’s deeper, I think it’s definitely deeper, I think it’s definitely got a bit more flexibility to it.”
“I think they can throw a few more people through, if you had a look at the numbers today I think you’ll see there’s a lot of different people at spending lots of different time in there, I think that’s really pleasing for us.”
“So that’s not always going to be smooth still.”
“This is a work in progress, we’ve been saying it for a little period of time, we still haven’t quite got that to where we would like it to go and we think it will go to.”
“I think it’s going to a really high level.”
Zak Butters, Connor Rozee, Xavier Duursma, Dan Houston, Riley Bonner Lachie Jones and Mitch Georgiades
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He’s going to learn to play in a contested position where it’s a lot more body contact for him, he’s fearless in his approach on the ball but he’s also got to learn that there’s a right and a wrong time for him to be too crazy.”
“I’ve said this only through the week, he’s not that big a person to go in there and deal with those blokes but he’ll learn to do that okay.”
“Before his injury last year, his very last game before injury he had a really important game for us, he played at a level we think he can get to.”
“Zak himself is not the finished product, he’s a very young player, he’s got a lot to learn but he’s going in the right direction, as is Connor, as is Xavier, as is Dan Houston still, Riley Bonner again today, Lachie Jones you just touched on, Mitch Georgiades, there’s a number of them younger players going in the right direction.”
Robbie Gray
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We hope so (that’s he’s okay), he’s got some slight hamstring stuff going on in the first quarter, and he just said look I’m not sure I feel okay but, so there’s a simple decision your’e out you don’t need to keep going”
“He’s got 2 weeks and I’d imagine he’ll be very very much in the mix for Round 1.”
Scott Lycett and Sam Hayes
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Scott shouldered the load, the biggest part of the load, and that’s what we expect of Scott, he will take the lead responsibility in that role.”
“Whether we go to Round 1 with the two rucks or the one ruck is still something we’ll work through in the next couple of weeks.”
“I think there’s no doubt Sam Hayes shows he can play AFL football, again quite promising for us, we made some decisions in the off-season knowing that we thought Sam Hayes was an AFL ruckman, he’s got still lots to learn.”
ADELAIDE
Matthew Nicks on:
Lachlan Gollant
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Lachie Gollant, for a kid who hasn’t played a lot of footy he goes hard at the ball.”
Elliot Himmelberg
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Himmelberg back for his first hit out again off 11 days, thought he stood up and played some really good footy for a half, then that was enough for him (managed).”
Darcy Fogarty, Ned McHenry, Josh Rachele
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Fog gave us a contest in the air, we’ve said this to him as a team, if you give us that contest in the air the rest of your game will look after itself.”
“It didn’t happen for him today where he hit the scoreboard but he gave us everything we wanted as far as competing when the ball was up there.”
“That gave our small forwards an opportunity, and that’s really exciting for us.”
“McHenry who’s a fantastic young leader for us, he gets more opportunity when it hits the ground, so too does Rachele.
James Rowe
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We didn’t play Rowey today, Rowey played in the earlier game.”
“I know he’d be licking his lips if we can play that style ahead of the footy and he didn’t get an opportunity last week.”
Josh Rachele
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We’re not going to hide from the fact that he’s at this point in time he’s in our best 22, he’s shown I think that he’s mature body, very mature when it comes to footy and his decision making.”
“So everything going well, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but we’d love to see him possibly debut early in the season.”
“He’s a competitor and he values that which is the most pleasing, and that’s why he was just selected so high in the draft.”
Matt Crouch
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Really pleased with Matty’s game, it was another step on from last week, and it’s probably not the stuff necessarily that we see on the screen the 30 possessions, it was just how clean he was with the ball.”
“Some of the off-ball stuff he’s been working on was outstanding today, that was a really positive for us as a footy club.”
Rory Laird
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “So it’s a suspected broken hand, we’ve just got to get that X-rayed now and we’re fingers crossed that it’s not displaced or anything major.”
“Fingers crossed it may be a week or two, could be worse than that.”
“We’ll hope for the best.”
🔔LIVE: Adelaide v Port Adelaide
Rory Laird (Right hand) Will not return, replaced by Luke Pedlar @aflratings https://t.co/8rs0PCGAQR
Luke Pedlar
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Peds may be something slight in his hamstring, again a scan will tell us what’s happening there.”
“At the moment he feels pretty good, again we’re reasonably positive that will be okay.”
ESSENDON
Blake Caracella on:
Kaine Baldwin
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “I thought he played really well, he had a lot of things off the ball probably wouldn’t have been seen on the tv screen.”
“Young player, missed a lot of footy and we’re really happy with his progress.”
Archie Perkins
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Archie’s had a fantastic game tonight, he’s played forward, played on-ball, such a powerful, I think he’s only 20 years old powerful player who can win the ball on the ground, in the air as well.”
“Kicking I think 2 goals in that last quarter to really get us going, we’re really happy with the way he played, looking forward to him developing his game and playing through the midfield.”
Jake Stringer, Aaron Francis, Dylan Shiel, Zach Merrett and Nick Martin
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Jake will be available for round one, Aaron Francis will be available as well.”
“Dylan Shiel didn’t play tonight but he’s ready to go for round one.”
“Zach Merrett went off the ground for, we just needed to rest him, he’s got a long season ahead of himself and we wanted to see (Nick) Martin play as well.”
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He’s back training now, so we need to get him back to match fitness which is going to take a little bit of time.”
“He’s such a great player and we need him back in the team.”
“He’s doing all he can to get himself back match fit and when he does he’ll be straight back in.”
Nick Martin
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “I thought he played really well, obviously got put on the list last week after a really good game against the Dogs, and he just adds a touch of class and run.”
“He played as a forward back home in Perth but he’s come across here and he’s shown ability to be able to win the ball and use it really well in the front half of the ground.”
“An exciting prospect for us.”
“I think he’s certainly a chance (for Round 1).”
“We’ve got a lot of players which is a good thing to choose from, but he’s put his hand up for the last 2 weeks.”
Will Snelling
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Snell has been a fantastic player for us for the last 2 years really, he’s developed his game, he’s a rookie list player.”
“He’s played probably more through the midfield centre bounce tonight than he has in the past, but we’ve got a lot of players and we need to work out which roles those players are going to play and we want our players to play a number of roles, so we need the flexibility and I thought he went in there and he’s always putting the team first and doing the right thing by his teammates.”
“He certainly did that again tonight.”
Aaron Francis
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He hurt his knee a little bit last week but he’ll be right for Round 1.”
Jye Caldwell
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Jye’s number one skill is contest work, his stoppage, his clearance work, he’s also got an ability to go forward which you probably haven’t seen that much yet, he played a bit forward with the Giants.”
“But we’re really happy with the way, he’s strong and hard and he can win the ball and create some nice opportunities going forward from contest.”
ST KILDA
Brett Ratten on:
Dan McKenzie
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He’ll be fine, there’s a little bit there but it was more a conservative,
“It was trying to get maybe Nasiah (Wanganeen-Milera) into the game and look after a bloke that hasn’t missed a beat though pre-season.”
Jack Billings
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Billings will get a scan on his hamstring, so there’ll be something there I’m suggesting.”
Hunter Clark
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Clark will probably be 6 weeks with an AC shoulder, he might require some surgery I’m not sure completely there but scans will reveal that.”
“But he will be out for at least a month.”
Rowan Marshall
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We know Marshall has got huge output in games and his ability to play ruck and forward.”
“Last year he had an interrupted pre-season.”
Brad Hill
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Bradley has put a fair bit of time in, you’re really please for players that invest in themselves in the pre-season.”
“That was really pleasing for him to play well tonight.’
Jack Hayes
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “His first half was really good, how well he competed, probably got a little bit tired through the third (quarter) and that but then he sort of finished off strong again.”
“First taste of AFL, it’s a quick game and he was adjusting to it playing at Marvel (Stadium).”
“He didn’t do his Round 1 (chances) any damage.”
Paddy Ryder
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Paddy is going to be pretty close (Round 1), he’s building up to be really close.”
“He’s probably in front of where we thought he would be, but it will be every session is going to be critical leading up to Round 1.”
“So he can’t have a hiccup, otherwise we won’t consider him but he’s doing everything right.”
Max King
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He’s working extremely hard, he’s launching at the ball and getting those big arms up.”
“If he keeps producing that each week, we’ll be very happy.”
GWS GIANTS
Mark McVeigh on:
Stephen Coniglio
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We thought it was reflective of his pre-season to be honest, he’s come back in really good order.”
“I think it’s well documented how he’s battled body issues over the last few years in terms of injuries, but we’re quite happy about how he’s come into the pre-season injury free, been able to not miss a beat really and we think his performance today is reflective of him being able to do most of the pre-season.”
“We’re really happy with where he’s at.”
“I think he’s had to opportunity to probably get more run in his legs which obviously will trim you down a fair bit, being able to have that combination of weights and running which he hasn’t really been able to do he’s certainly trimmed down a fair bit.”
“I think the pre-season for him has been a real positive one for a number of years physically and mentally, so I’m not surprised that he’s performing quite well at the moment.”
Conor Stone
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Stone obviously looks a pretty severe hamstring, so we’ll get those results in the next couple of days.”
“That’s a little bit unfortunate because he’s a player that we hold in high regard, had a really good pre-season but unfortunately he’s been stuck down.”
Daniel Lloyd
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Obviously Lloydy should be okay, come off with the concussion.”
“We’ll monitor that over the next sort of 10-12 days and follow all the protocols that we have to.”
Harry Perryman
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Perryman is fine (high contact), he just was stitched up.”
“He’s all good to go.”
“Perryman absolutely fine”
Jesse Hogan
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We’ve got a lot of work into Jesse, he was obviously pretty sore.”
“We went the no risk policy in terms of Round 1, we know that he’s in our best 22 so we took no risk with him.”
“He’s actually trained pretty since, he feels pretty good so we expect him to be ready for Round 1.”
Tim Taranto
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He’s had a lot of practice at it (playing forward), obviously last year he played as a forward at times, throughout this pre-season he has.”
“The great thing about Tim is his flexibility, he’s outstanding, he can play on the wing, he can play midfield and he can play that forward role.”
“We’ve been able to throw it around a little bit today, whether he can fill that role of Toby (Greene) we’ll wait and see.”
“But we’re lucky we’ve got the flexibility for him to be able to do that.”
“Bobby Hill popped up today which is great, it’s another player that’s worked really hard in the pre-season, great to see him get the reward as well.”
“Going forward we can’t replace the players that you’re talking about, but we certainly think we’ve got some new avenues to goal.”
Braydon Preuss and Matt Flynn
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “It’s great because we feel like now we’ve got a really strong decision to make what we do.”
“As I said, what opposition come up it always looks different whether you go two ruckman or one but right now we’ve got a really strong decision to make.”
“Both guys played pretty well, hit in hard, I thought Preuss was terrific in the air today, took some really good grabs, gave us a contest when he was forward.”
“Flynny’s follow-up work was really good.”
“They’re playing against one of the best in (Brodie) Grundy, he was a great test for them both, they both got through unscathed which was a positive especially for Preussy who’s battled injury,”
“Over the next 10-12 days we’ve got some decisions to make around those two players and how we go, but it’s a positive sign for us.”
Jake Riccardi
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We found some avenues to goals, obviously they were younger players.”
“He again is a player that we’ve got a lot of faith in and he’s certainly worked really hard today.”
“The rain held off so we got to see our forwards really work.”
“So again it’s a really good problem for us to have and we’ve got some really good avenues to goal.”
Josh Kelly
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “It’s been a slow build for Josh throughout this pre-season, I think he’s timed his run.”
“He’s sort of just cruising along working really hard but nothing outlandish on the field, but today I think he put the foot down and said right I’m ready to go.”
“I just think he’s complimented Toby (Greene) and obviously Cogs (Stephen Coniglio), he’s a professional at the high end.”
“He certainly prepares himself in the best way you possibly can think of, he has a really balanced outlook into football, he’s got himself really balanced on-field, he’s got a good balanced lifestyle and he brings a level of calmness to our group.”
“He’s just gone from strength to strength.”
“We’ve seen over the last few years he was building slowly with his leadership skills but we’re really starting to see it now and as I said he really compliments our other leaders.”
Nick Haynes
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Good to go (Round 1), he got through (stomach – played lower level today), really happy, we’ll assess him over the next few days but that illness that he had hopefully we’ve got to the bottom of that ad he’ll be right to go for Round 1, but fully got through VFL today and we’re really happy if he pulls up well, but we can’t see why he wouldn’t be playing Round 1, so we’re happy with him.”
Phil Davis
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He knew where he had to get better (in the pre-season), and he had some body issues as well, in terms of being able to physically get himself right.”
“He’s again like Cogs (Stephen Coniglio) has had a really good pre-season.”
“So he’s prepared himself for the best way possibly can to get back to the level we think he can.”
“First class response, would expect anything less from him and he’s put himself right where he needs to be.”
“He’s been an outstanding leader for our club in many aspects whether that’s on the field or off the field.”
“We have a lot of respect for Phil within our walls.”
COLLINGWOOD
Craig McRae on:
Nathan Kreuger
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Kreuger concussion at this stage, not sure how bad that is, time will tell on that.”
“I think that’s mandatory 12 days minimum.”
Pat Lipinski
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We’ve got Lipinski with his ankle, again I don’t know (his outlook), we’re going to get scans.”
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Pat Lipinski (Ankle/Foot) Will not return@aflratings https://t.co/nAZswUp1aC
Nathan Murphy
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Murphy was the last one I think, could be something similar (to Pat Lipinski) an ankle injury.”
“We’ll know more early in the week.”
Brayden Maynard
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Anything in regards to a guy that leaves the field with a head knock you’d be concerned (for MRO outcome) if you’re involved in that incident.”
“I think that’s the way that the AFL are going to interpret this year, again without looking at the details of the footage I think we’ll have to wait and see what that looks like.”
Nick Daicos
“He’s had a terrific pre-season, he hasn’t played much footy the last couple of years, we’re trying to protect the young lad but he just keeps finding the ball, wherever we put him he impacts the game.”
“We started him down back and then with Patty (Lipinski) going out we needed his long running in the midfield.”
“We’ve got to keep him on the field because he’s going to show what he’s capable of like he did today.”
“I don’t put expectations on him, I just want him to be the best version of himself.”
“He’s an elite talent, a great decision maker and I think every game he plays he just shows something a little bit different.”
“He’s had a great pre-season as I said, I think he’s set himself up for a good year.”
“He’s still learning a lot of the game, there’s a lot of stuff that he doesn’t know, playing against men for the first time, playing different roles down back and through the midfield, he’s learning to play within our system, he’s not a finished product yet.”
“But what he is showing us is what he’s good at, he’s an exceptional ball winner.”
Mason Cox and Brody Mihocek
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He’s got approval to wear them (glasses), just let him be him, if that’s helping him play better I’m not going to stand in the way of that.”
“Today was a tough day for our forwards, we didn’t deliver the ball that well at times which made it difficult so it doesn’t matter what glasses he’s wearing it would have been difficult for him.”
“Brody Mihocek will be available (Round 1), he had some viral symptoms so he couldn’t travel.”
“Our forward line is actually a work in-progress.”
Jordan DeGoey
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “We’re really pleased, we actually went into the game thinking we might manage his game time but he end up playing most of the game.”
“In terms of his work rate and his GPS stuff that we wanted to get him in the game, massive tick in that regard,”
Taylor Adams, Isaac Quaynor and Jeremy Howe
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Taylor, it looks like he’ll be available Round 1and Howie is the same.”
“Those two in particular and (Isaac) Quaynor, he had concussion against Hawthorn, so it’s still a couple of weeks to go before Round 1 but those guys will be available at this stage”
Jeremy Howe
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He was (close to playing today),I don’t know if it’s a conservative approach but we’re sort of thinking that let him get some match practice next Friday and I think we’ll play and ease him towards Round 1.”
“That was our approach.”
Charlie Dean
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “It looks like he’s had an operation yesterday, put a little screw in his foot and hopefully that will mend the injury, it looks like he might miss 6-10 weeks, it just depends how he heals.”
“The story itself is a good one, getting rookie listed and grabbing an opportunity then life can be cruel sometime can’t it.”
“He’s done a lot right, we loved was he’s brought to the table.”
SYDNEY
Dean Cox on:
Paddy McCartin
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “I think the pleasing thing with Paddy is he’s worked really hard to get back onto an AFL list, from there he’s been playing at a bit of a different position as well.”
“Obviously spent a lot of time up forward for the Saints and to be able to adjust and play back, he’s worked extremely hard on and he’s trained really hard over the pre-season which has put him in a position to play both of these games and put his name up for Round 1 which is really pleasing.”
“At the minute you’d say he’s have to be close, he’ll hopefully train the next couple of weeks as well and build the cohesion with the back six and play alongside his brother which will be great to be at some stage.”
“The other thing with Paddy is, even when he was sort of part of the VFL program it was his ability to be able to train with us throughout that period as well has probably fast tracked the development in that area, it’s been really good to see, he’s still got a lot to work on and I think everyone understands that but the steps that he is taking has been really encouraging.”
Isaac Heeney
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “To be able to go forward when he’s needed, to hit the scoreboard, spend some time also in the middle of the ground and play his role when needed was really pleasing.”
“For him it’s about trying to get some consistency, his footy will take care of itself from that.”
Logan McDonald
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He’s working into the position,”
“He probably missed the pre-Christmas phase (being back in WA), and he’s built in through the Jan-Feb.”
“To him it’s just about working on his craft as much as he possibly can, the difference who he gets, the match-ups he gets, what he has to do when he plays on certain players, he’s still developing all that.”
“So for him it’s about trying to make sure that he can focus on what he can control, he took a step forward tonight which was really good.”
“That’ll have to be a discussion (for Round 1 selection).”
Lance Franklin
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Lance played pretty much a full game last week, he’s been training for a long period of time, we wanted to get a specific training block into him over the weekend which will allow him to build towards Round 1.”
“He’ll be good to go (Round 1).”
Justin McInerney
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “The thing with Justin is, his work rate in phenomenal, but also he loves his footy, he understands his footy, knows every role that he needs to play, whether it was half-back last year or on a wing this week or if he goes inside, he spends a lot of time on his game.”
“He’s worked extremely hard over the summer on the ground ball presence and his ability to play a role on the wing and that’s worked really well the couple of weeks that he’s played.”
Peter Ladhams
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “That’s something we looked at last week (playing with Tom Hickey), you probably don’t get a hell of a lot of time in one spot and you sort of mix between both of them, we wanted Pete to go back to play a full (VFL) game in the ruck and he did that today which was really good.”
“So now it’s about the dynamic we want going forward, is it two rucks, we’re still undecided on.”
NTH MELBOURNE
David Noble on:
Jared Polec
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings“I’m pretty proud of what he’s done really, it’s a hard pill to swallow that one, most clubs now tend to manoeuvre their lists around accordingly, Jared I had to have that conversation with him as to the reasons behind it (being delisted), we’re trying to open up another draft list spot, which you understand it doesn’t sit comfortably with guys particularly the public sentiment that comes with it.”
“I’m really proud with the way he’s come back, the shape that he’s in, what he adds, he’s a really intelligent guy when it comes to the football element of our game.”
“We’ve asked him to take on some mentoring of some younger guys in regards as to the wing role, been really pleased with what he’s done through there,”
“I’m hoping that his year will continue to extend and deliver some benefits for not only him but for us well.”
“Yep (he’s in for Round 1), I think he’s delivered what we’ve asked him to do, we’ve taken our time with him through the program because he has had some soft tissue.”
“So he’s in Round 1”
Jason Horne-Francis
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “I think so (play more forward than midfield), just the younger bodies.”
“He’ll still find his feet and the times that we’ll need to get him into the midfield, it’ll just be working with him to be patient enough to pick the time to get him into the mid.”
“It’s not that he’s not ready, it’s just the rigour of constant stoppage-stoppage-stoppage means you know it’s a bit of a stoppage game in that sense.”
“You just don’t want them to sort of get to beat up around the ball too early.”
“Because when he goes forward he can catch it, he’s great on the ground, what did have 4 shots today, so he can be a bit of a tool and a bit of a weapon for us going forward.”
Tristan Xerri
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “I thought he was terrific, I think I’ve said before he’s probably one of our top 4 or 5 performers over pre-season.”
“I think he delivered some terrific performance today.”
Todd Goldstein
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “That combination seemed to work well, going to be a tick one for us at match committee.”
“We’ll play two (rucks), we’ll definitely play two.”
Callum Coleman-Jones
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He had a scan (knee), he was clear, so it’s just a bit sore in that joint but nothing structurally.”
Cam Zurhaar
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Cam will be right (General soreness – Round 1).”
Will Phillips
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Will Phillips was ill, so you’d think he’ll be putting his hand up for selection as well.”
FREMANTLE
Justin Longmuir on:
Rory Lobb
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Rory got a knock to the chest, he was a bit short of breath.”
“Were’ pretty confident he’ll be right.”
“He wanted to come back on.”
Nathan Wilson
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Wil has got that hit to the shoulder, he’s pretty sore and sorry for himself.”
“We’ll have to get it scanned.”
Michael Frederick
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “It’s been really strong (his pre-season), he’s a really humble kid who just loves to come to work and get better.”
“Think what we’ve seen the last couple of weeks is he’s not just relying on his brilliant speed, he’s mixed a bit of forward craft into his game and I think his aerial work shone out the last couple of weeks.”
Jordan Clark and Will Brodie
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “They’ve had strong pre-seasons both of them, they’ve fitted into the group really well.”
“Whether they’ve both done enough to warrant a game in Round 1, time will tell.”
“They’ve definitely put their hand up, with not just what they’ve done in the last two weeks but what they’ve done in a large body of work since we’ve started pre-season.”
Heath Chapman
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “The beauty about Chappy is he can play tall and small, loved the way he attacked the contest and was really aggressive with his positioning and his attack on the footy, he likes making things happen with the ball.”
“He’s a really flexible player, we’ll continue to use him in a number of roles.”
WEST COAST
Adam Simpson on:
Patrick Naish
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He’s come in with a really good attitude, brings a different look for us on the wing as well.”
Tim Kelly
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “Obviously Tim in an A-Grade talent, and I think his best football even at Geelong was forward of centre, so his ability to play as a midfielder hunt the ball, connect and also hit the scoreboard, I think that’s his best version.”
“If he can have a couple of shots a game playing in the midfield, that’s a bonus for us.”
Willie Rioli
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “That’s what he did 2 years ago, he was a pinch hit on the mid every now and then when one of our inside mids rotates.”
“We just want to get him back to what he did 2 years ago to be honest, so we’ll start with what we used to do.”
“We started him in the middle tonight at every centre bounce, so that was just to have a look at it, traditionally he does pinch hit there.”
“He’s had a couple of niggles throughout the pre-season but he’s not a mile off (full fitness).”
“Another good week on the track, available Round 1 which was the ultimate goal, he needs to get that match fitness, he’s been away for a long time.”
Jake Waterman
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He had a tight calf, so we didn’t risk it (playing him) to be honest.”
Alex Witherden
AFL News on Twitter @aflratings “He’s transitioned really well, he had a significant operation in the off-season, had a really good look, he hasn’t missed a beat, so hopefully fingers crossed he’s available (pending MRO).”
“But he’s been good, couple of kick here and there tonight but overall he’s been pretty good for us.”
GOLD COAST
Stuart Dew on:
Rory Thompson, Jarrod Witts and Jack Lukosius
“He’s been through a fair bit, I think it’s over 3 years now (since he last played).”
“I guess at different times he wouldn’t have thought he’d see the day that he’d pull the Guernsey back on for a senior game, whether it’s trial game or not.”
“So full credit to Rory and then the staff that have worked with him to get him to this point, he’s still got to build up because I guess the luxury of having the ability to have extended bench he’s still got to build up to full game time.”
“Him and Wittsy have been working away.”
“So it was good to get some time.”
“Obviously Jack, we were mindful of him (game time).
Mabior Chol (Hamstring)
“Pretty precautionary, same as Jeremy Sharp who was a little bit tight during the week.”
“We just made an early call.”
“I guess when there’s the word tight, you’re in doubt until scans and hopefully get that ticked off and look at his build up (to Round 1) and hopefully get that ticked off.”
“I’d imagine he wouldn’t do a lot this week in terms of that and no need to test him now.”
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Mabior Chol (Hamstring) Will not return@aflratings
Ben Ainsworth
“Benny is a pro, he trains well, prepares well, his off-season he’s one of our role models throughout that off-season break where he knows how to exactly get himself into position (for the season).”
“His work rate, when you see him live obviously tonight you wouldn’t want to play on him if you’re a half-back, like he’s working up and down the ground, he continues to run hard and I think that’s full credit to the way he prepares his game.”
“Pleasing that he was able to finish.”
“We love Benny, he just covers the ground with real speed.”
“We want to play with speed and he’s a big part of that.”
Jarrod Witts
“It was good to have Wittsy back that’s for sure, having the genuine ruck in there, he’s our co-captain, so guys walk a bit taller with him in the side.”
“We’ll just keep stepping him up, the way he’s attacked his whole training, he’s been good to go for a while now, so having to hold him back a little bit and that’s okay.”
“He’s all ticked off, he’ll be ready for Round 1, but that was never in doubt the way he goes about it.”
GEELONG
Shaun Grigg on:
Jed Bews
“He’s in Concussion protocol.”
Tom Stewart
“Family first (baby due), no problems at all for us.”
Gary Rohan
“Gaz has had a bit of a slower prep, he’s started to join in (training).”
“He’s still got a fair of work to do, I don’t think he’ll be right for Round 1”
“He had a knee operation at the end of the season and had a little bit of hip trouble coming back.”
“Look to get the work into him and make sure he’s right when he gets back.”
