AFL Round 20 Team Whispers: Bombers star ruled out as draftee in line for debut; hint Power selection shock looms

Carlton is set to welcome back a host of stars for Friday night’s blockbuster against arch rival Collingwood.

Plus an out-of-favour Pie has pressed his claim for a recall, while a prized Bomber is closing in on his debut.

Get the latest Round 20 selection news and updates in AFL Team Whispers!

CARLTON coach Michael Voss says captain Patrick Cripps will play against Collingwood after overcoming a corked hamstring just in time for the Friday night blockbuster.

The star midfielder is set to be joined by Adam Cerra and Jack Martin, who also missed last week’s win over West Coast with respective hamstring and calf concerns.

Cripps was absent from training at Ikon Park on Thursday and Martin completed light drills away from the main group, but Voss said all the Blues facing fitness tests had cleared the necessary hurdles to be available for the Magpies clash.

Voss said Jesse Motlop and Matt Owies (calf injuries) were fit to play, while he confirmed Marc Pittonet would return to the side to replace Jack Silvagni, with Tom De Koning likely to spend more time as a forward.

He said the Blues had to be patient with Cripps’ knock over the last fortnight, but he felt “free enough” to perform in a game where a win over the arch rivals could return his side to the top eight for the first time since round 8.

“He’s followed all of what he’s needed to do … obviously he had important milestones to meet throughout the week, which he’s met,” Voss said.

“He’s ready to go and it’s obviously going to be a big game for us, but more than that it’s important to him that he’s right to go, and (because) he’s right to go, then he gets to play.

“Having him out there is fantastic – we’ve taken a good approach where the next man has come in and got their job done … we’re fortunate, obviously (Jack Silvagni) is out and (Sam Walsh) is out, so we’ll ask a couple of others to step in and do their roles.”

Along with Walsh and Silvagni, Paddy Dow and small forward Josh Honey appear the likely members of last week’s 22 to make way for Cripps, Cerra, Pittonet and Martin, while a fit-again Owies may have to bide his time in the VFL given the strong form of Jesse Motlop.

Caleb Marchbank is also a strong chance for a senior return after pulling up well following his 29-disposal performance on a wing in Carlton’s VFL win last week.

Voss labelled Pittonet an “automatic inclusion” after he had 16 disposals, eight clearances, eight tackles and a goal in the same match.

“Pitto will come into the side … that speaks to what we do with Tom, there’ll be no real secrets there for us,” Voss said.

“He’s a bit of an automatic for us into the team, and he provides that aggression around the ball.

“That’s where it’s going to start … with a contest and plenty of pressure, which Collingwood have been able to bring across the whole year, so we know what’s coming.”

A crowd of more than 85,000 is expected for the clash, and while Voss said he had not played up the significance of the game to the group, he admitted the occasion was “pretty exciting”.

“They do take on that little bit of extra meaning … we’re certainly aware of what’s in front of us and the rivalry that exists, and we played a couple of really strong games against each other last year,” he said.

“We were off the mark (in the 28-point loss in round 10), but yes, it’s an important game for both teams.”

COLLINGWOOD coach Craig McRae is confident Isaac Quyanor, Josh Daicos and Bobby Hill will all be available to play in Friday night’s blockbuster despite missing Tuesday’s training session through illness.

Cooper Murley was also absent from the session, but McRae emphasised that the club was just sticking to its strict sick policy with players and staff in telling them to stay home.

“Just another week in viral land that we live in,” McRae told reporters on Tuesday.

“We’ve got four guys that are viral and we just don’t want them in our building with a sniffy nose or a cough. That’s just what we do.

“We trust that they’re all going to be OK to play.”

McRae confirmed Will Hoskin-Elliott got through training and is “available to play”, while Jack Ginnivan continues to put his name up for a recall.

Ginnivan had his best game yet in the VFL last weekend against Sandringham, racking up 28 disposals with 2.3.

“I really enjoyed Jack’s game at VFL, I’ve been watching him closely for a number of weeks now.,” he said.

“He’s been training at a really high standard for probably a month and hasn’t quite got the reward on match day until last week. He really played above VFL level and looked like an AFL player.

“We were really pleased with his performance.”

ESSENDON has reportedly ruled out Jake Stringer for Saturday night’s clash against Sydney, with the star forward likely to be sidelined for multiple weeks.

Stringer trained lightly on Wednesday morning after he struggled physically in the loss to the Western Bulldogs, in which he managed only eight disposals and did not start at a centre bounce after quarter time.

Coach Brad Scott said Stringer would need to show he could draw on his trademark strength and power to be picked against the Swans despite being cleared by medical staff.

But 7 News Melbourne’s Mitch Cleary reported on Thursday that Stringer had cited plantar fascia pain after his fitness test on Wednesday and wouldn’t play against Sydney, adding Stringer would now enter a “deloading phase”.

The Bombers need to cover the loss of crucial defender Jordan Ridley against a Swans forward line bolstered by Lance Franklin’s return to form in the past fortnight.

Scott said Sam Weideman was in the frame for a recall in the vacant key defensive post after he switched to the backline in the VFL following his omission last week.

The former Demon impressed with 24 disposals and 13 marks in a narrow loss to Williamstown, but a fit-again Kaine Baldwin looms as the frontrunner for the spot after playing in defence at senior level earlier this season.

“(Weideman) played really well in defence given he’s probably played about a half of footy in his life in defence,” Scott said.

“He’s got a lot of attributes that suit playing as a key defender … he’s certainly an option.”

Scott said whether the Bombers remained in finals contention in coming weeks might influence how soon Sam Draper and Shiel return “by degrees”, but neither would return until they were close to 100 per cent fit and remained “week-by-week propositions”.

The duo were put through a series of movement drills away from the main group on Wednesday.

Scott said No.5 pick Elijah Tsatas was closing in on a senior debut after adapting well to coaches’ demands in the last fortnight in the VFL.

PORT ADELAIDE could be set to make a shock Showdown selection call, with skipper Travis Boak reportedly no guarantee to face the Crows.

Boak, a three-time Showdown Medallist, on Thursday was seen training with the secondary group at Alberton, rather than the ‘A-team’.

“You‘ve got to be careful at times when you look at who are the As and who are the Bs at training sessions,” veteran reporter Michelangelo Rucci told SEN SA. “But usually, they give a fair bit of a hint. When you see Travis Boak, not with the As but in the secondary group, you go, ‘What‘s going on here?’

“He hasn‘t been that good the last month.

“When you see Ken and his match committee, not pick Tom Jonas, put Ryan Burton up and down twice and being very serious about integrity at selection, (it doesn’t surprise).”

More than two years after he last played in the AFL Irishman Mark Keane could be thrust into the cauldron of a must-win showdown for injury-hit ADELAIDE.

The loss of key defender Nick Murray, who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against Melbourne last Sunday, and with Tom Doedee sidelined by the same long-term injury, Keane, who played all of his five AFL games with Collingwood, looms as the most likely replacement.

Keane, 23, last played in Round 9, 2021, and after signing with the Crows in the pre-season and has played 13 games for Adelaide‘s reserves with one of his best coming in last Sunday’s big 69-point win over Woodville-West Torrens.

The Crows have to also replace electric forward Izak Rankine and assistant coach Nathan van Berlo said Adelaide would look at a range of options to replace them, with Keane’s name in the mix.

“Regardless of what game we play, we’ve got confidence in our form below. Mark is certainly one of those guys who has been playing some strong footy,” van Berlo said.

“If he plays this week, we’ll back in that he plays a role within our system.

“A huge part of our selection discussions is match-ups and it doesn’t always mean we go like for like and that‘s based on what the opposition presents to us as well.

“We’ve got a number of guys playing some good strong footy behind the ball in particular, Mark Keane, James Borlase, Will Hamill, and Paddy Parnell to name a few guys who are in strong form.”

Star midfielder Rory Laird is also expected to be available to face Port after missing last week’s MCG loss with a shoulder injury.

Laird was still avoiding contact at training on Wednesday morning but his potential inclusion looms as a huge one against Port Adelaide’s stacked midfield.

“He had a fair bit of swelling and soreness over the weekend. It looks like it has settled down reasonably well,” van Berlo said.

“The signs were good today for sure.”

Laird’s likely inclusion could mean bad news for Matt Crouch despite racking up 22 disposals, nine tackles and seven clearances in just his second appearance of 2023 against Melbourne.

ST KILDA won’t rush forward Tim Membrey straight back for his first match since suffering a knee injury.

Coach Ross Lyon said a VFL return loomed for Membrey as he looks to build form for the late matches.