Mitch Clark Available Next Round

Brisbane coach Michael Voss has claimed exciting youngster Mitch Clark should be available next round despite a groin problem in Sunday's win over Hawthorn.

Clark, an in-form $369k DT ruck/forward, spent plenty of the second-half of the victory in Tasmania on the bench after experiencing some problems with his groin.

But Voss claimed Clark was only suffering from tightness rather than a muscle tear and he was on the bench as the Lions didn't want to risk injury.

"They are like gold to us at the moment,'' Voss said. "So we didn't want to put him out there unless we absolutely had too, it was more out of precaution.''

The Lions don't play again until June 27 against Melbourne at the GABBA.

One Brisbane player who might not be available for that game is Troy Selwood after dislocating a shoulder in the Hawthorn victory.

The Herald Sun has claimed the $244k midfielder will miss about a month due to the injury, but Voss downplayed such suggestions.

"Troy Selwood's popped his shoulder," Voss said. "Obviously we'll assess the damage. Hopefully he's right in a couple weeks. Sometimes they can just pop out and then come back in and they're OK."

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Ratten: Thornton & Judd Okay

Carlton coach Brett Ratten has explained injuries to Blues pair Chris Judd and Bret Thornton after Friday night's loss to St Kilda.

Ratten confirmed $385k midfielder Judd, who is owned by over 100,000 DT coaches, had broken his nose in the match but didn't elaborate on whether the injury would affect his availability for Round 13.

"He got a broken nose and it just kept bleeding, so it took a bit to stop," Ratten said.

Nevertheless it is understood Judd underwent surgery to realign the nasal bones on Saturday.

Channel Nine's Dr Peter Larkins claimed Judd would be okay to play when he told the Sunday Footy Show, "Having had surgery, he'll have the bye weekend and be back playing."

Ratten did reveal backman Thornton had been a late withdrawal after tweaking a hamstring at training on Thursday, but expected the $322k defender to be okay for next round.

"Bret should be right for the Essendon game (Round 13). He just had a slight hamstring and we took the precautionary option, knowing that we had the break," Ratten said.

"If he did do it this week, he would've missed the Essendon game, so he'll be fine with that."

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DT Round 12 Injury & Suspension News

Basically this little section is a rolling update over the course of the weekend on injuries and potential suspensions so you can keep an eye on it all. So stay posted.

Adelaide v North Melbourne; Popular rookie Jack Ziebell's injury is the talking point. He was rushed to hospital late in the game and may have broken his leg. He was also reported earlier, but will get off. Kanga Lindsay Thomas pulled his hamstring late in the game, and so did Adelaide's Brent Reilly. As reported here yesterday, Richard Douglas was a late withdrawal with a virus, while Graham Johncock also dropped out with a mystery respiratory problem.

Hawthorn v Brisbane Lions; Popular DT youngster Mitch Clark is the big worry after straining his quad today. Also, Brisbane's Troy Selwood dislocated his shoulder on his comeback game and will be gone for a while.

Richmond v West Coast; No major concerns here, although Richmond bigman Will Thursfield copped a hit to the head and was a bit groggy but should be okay for next round.

Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide; The main news is in the 4th quarter Power forward Daniel Motlop re-injured the ankle which kept him out of action recently. Less significantly, Bulldogs star Jason Akermanis, who was rumoured to have swine flu this week, struggled a bit but got through the game.

Carlton v St Kilda; The main injury news centres around DT star Chris Judd who looks to have broken his nose. It's not clear yet if it's a major or minor fracture of the nose but Judd played on, despite plenty of blood, so maybe that suggests he'll be okay to go for Round 13. Also for Carlton, early-season DT fave Bret Thornton was a late withdrawal after suffering a hamstring injury at training on Thursday, while Brendan Fevola seemed to hurt his ankle in the second-half but played on. There were no such problems for the victorious Saints.

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Motlop Re-injures Ankle

Bad news for Port fans and the 22,000 DT coaches who own Daniel Motlop after Power coach Mark Williams confirmed the forward had re-injured his troublesome ankle.

The $278k forward, who was making his return from a two-match layoff in Saturday's clash against the Bulldogs, injured his ankle in the final quarter.

Williams admitted after the game that the problem was the same as last time. Port Adelaide also confirmed that they were quite concerned about the injury.

All this suggests an extended spell on the sidelines for Motlop.

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