1. Liam Picken
The Club announced today that Liam Picken’s season was over, and Luke Beveridge provide some extra clarity around why.
“We're really hopeful we'll get him back next year and he can reinvigorate his career.
“Not enough changed (from mid-season), because the one thing that's left is he's still got this dull headache that he hasn't been able to get rid of, and the specialists are saying it's a pretty good idea until it goes just to stay out of the game.
“Other than that he feels fantastic and he's fully-functional and living a normal a life, it's just the risks that go with our collision game and the things associated with that tell us he probably shouldn't play.”
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2. Tom Boyd
Beveridge talks through the 22-year-old’s chances of playing this weekend.
“He was a bit stiff in the legs and he did a lot of work trying to get that right for the next week and his back tightened up, but the signs are promising.
But we'd expect him to probably play this week at the moment. He'll still need to train Thursday but he'll get moving today and hopefully he's ok for the trip to Perth.”
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3. Fergus Greene
After four goals for Footscray on the weekend, the 20-year-old is inching closer to a senior debut.
“He played a really good first half down there at Casey, very, very encouraging.
“Whether it's the right time for Fergus, we've got so many youngbloods, so many of our brand new players and inexperienced players playing together, it's not the ideal time for Fergus to come in with our mix.
“But hopefully, over time he really forces us to pick him.”
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4. On West Coast minus Nic Nat
The Dogs face an Eagle outfit missing star ruckman Nic Naitanui. Beveridge discussed the potential impact.
It'll definitely affect them but I think they've got enough experience through their lines to do what they did against Collingwood on the weekend and be influential when the game is in the balance.
“There’s still enough experience in their team for them to test the better sides.
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5. Lukas Webb
The 22-year-old has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2018 season with a neck injury.
Webb had returned from a fractured thumb in the VFL last weekend against Casey Demons and got his neck caught in a tackle, which pulled up sore after the game.
The position where his neck received the contact caused a compression injury to a bone in his lower neck.
At this stage Webb will be managed conservatively, and the Club will work towards him resuming training in the pre-season.
“The scans have shown it's a bit more serious than we thought it would be, so we'll take really cautious steps with him,” Beveridge said.
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6. Further injury updates
Tory Dickson: “He's due to come back into full training with the main group probably next Sunday when we play Port Adelaide in Ballarat. Then hopefully he plays the week after, or he can squeeze a few games in before the end of the year.
He's had a tough '17 and '18. we just haven't seen enough of him, he's had injury after injury. So, it' is frustrating for him. He's a lad who's given great service but he's not a 22-year-old so he's obviously keen to get back and play a few games before the end of the year and work out a way forward beyond that.
Matthew Suckling: He's had both achilles nag at him over the last two years; we haven't had him at 100% over that duration which is unfortunate. Just speaking to him then, he's going to try and run this afternoon and hopefully we can get a few games into Matty before the season is out.
