Pavlich & Sandilands 50-50

Popular Fremantle duo Aaron Sandilands and Matthew Pavlich are rated as a 50-50 chance to take their place in the side to face Brisbane this Saturday night.

Sandilands, a $415k ruck owned by over 46,000 DT coaches, has a minor hamstring strain, while Pavlich, a $361k forward owned by over 56,000 DT coaches, has missed the club's last two matches with a calf injury.

Sandilands' fitness is especially important for DT coaches in the wake of fellow ruckman Dean Cox's 2-3 week injury.

Dockers coach Mark Harvey said on Wednesday, "No question they want to be playing this week [but] we will have to overrule to the expertise of our fitness and medical staff.

"It's whether they get through the training session really.

"We'd like them to be playing. We need them to play, particularly with the younger group, so if we can get them out there we will."

Meanwhile, Harvey did acknowledge $75k rookie defender Clancee Pearce would play this week after good WAFL form.

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Around The Grounds

• Port Adelaide's gun $358k midfielder Travis Boak will return to the side after injury for this weekend's clash with West Coast at AAMI Stadium. Boak has been out for over a month with a knee injury, but he got through training on Wednesday and will face the Eagles.

• St Kilda's $205k ruckman Steven King may not return straight back in the Saints line-up after suspension this week. Saints coach Ross Lyon doesn't like the rotation policy and may stick with the side which won last week saying, "He’s a really good chance and we’ll have to weigh up Ben McEvoy’s development against the return of an experienced ruckman. It’s probably 50-50 at this stage.”

• St Kilda's $178k defender Max Hudghton could be fit to face the Crows this weekend after a few weeks out with an ankle injury. Lyon said, "We’ve got to take all that in consideration and certainly at this stage, I haven’t been told he’s available this week but from what I’ve been told it’s more than likely.”

• Melbourne's $233k defender Daniel Bell and $220k ruckman Addam Maric will both be out for the rest of the 2009 AFL season due to shoulder injuries.

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DT Update: Tribunal

Hawthorn midfielder Jordan Lewis will be free to face Collingwood this weekend after getting off a charge of striking at the tribunal tonight.

Lewis was challenging a one-week-ban for striking North Melbourne's Michael Firrito, and the Hawk was successful.

In other news, Adelaide's James Sellar accepted a fine for running into an ump.

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Ablett Back, Stevie Johnson Not

There's plenty of guns returning to the Geelong side this week including star $474k midfielder Gary Ablett, but it seems popular $405k forward Steve Johnson will miss again.

Geelong coach Mark Thompson said on Tuesday, “Andrew Mackie, Gary Ablett, Matthew Scarlett and Travis Varcoe will play. (Darren) Milburn is a really good chance, and so is (Cameron) Ling.”

Milburn and Ling along with Stevie Johnson and gun midfielder Jimmy Bartel (hip) have been put on the injury list as facing a test.

Speaking about Johnson, Thompson said, "He’s more likely not to play but he hasn’t been ruled out for this week yet.”

$364k midfielder James Kelly is expected to miss the Round 16 clash with Melbourne with a hamstring.

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Cox To Miss 2-3, At Least

West Coast gun duo Dean Cox and Daniel Kerr will miss at least 2-3 weeks with the club deciding to send them to see a specialist in Adelaide.

WCE coach John Worsfold said, "The issue is that the soreness that they've got came on reasonably suddenly, but it hasn't gone suddenly and that's the concern.

"Both players are going to fly to Adelaide with the team on Friday to see a specialist in that area over there, just for another opinion on what he thinks may be happening.

"At this stage we're hoping that they may only miss two or three weeks and we'll get them back up and going."

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Around The Grounds

• Sydney's $331k midfielder Jarrad McVeigh has claimed he'll be okay to resume in the AFL this round having been a late withdrawal with a hamstring against Carlton on the weekend. McVeigh said, "In the warm-up it didn’t feel right so I decided not to risk it. We thought it was better to miss one week than one month. I felt it in the week before in the match against North and with the short week we thought it would be right but I could feel it not being totally free during the warm-up so it was better to be safe than sorry.”

• $197k North Melbourne defender Jesse Smith is on the comeback from injury but the Kangas claim they may not risk the injury-prone youngster in the AFL this season. North footy manager Donald McDonald said, "At this stage we just want him to recover well from the game and then we’ll meet at match committee as to where he’ll play this week but he’ll be in the VFL again."

• Smith's $215k North teammate Gavin Urquhart has been listed on the Kangas' injury list as out for 1/2 weeks with a groin injury. Nevertheless McDonald said, "It’s probably going to be one of those ones where we won’t know until Thursday’s training as to whether or not he’ll be available for selection this week.”

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News From The Reserves

- Starting with the VFL, Casey beat Frankston by 98 points, with Melbourne forwards Brad Miller and Michael Newton pressing their case for an AFL run with 4 goals each. Clint Bartram was the best afield, while rookie Jack Watts kicked one goal but wasn't in the best.

Port Melbourne pipped the Werribee Tigers by a goal with North Melbourne midfielder Ben Ross hinting for an AFL recall as he was amongst the best and booted a goal too.

Box Hill knocked off North Ballarat by 14 points with Hawks forward Cameron Stokes booting 3 to be amongst the best. Ryan Schoenmakers was a star for Box Hill, while ruckman Brent Renouf was good too.

For the Roosters, North's Ed Lower was in the best. Also in the Roosters reserves, Kanga Jesse Smith got through unscathed playing just over half a game after a long injury layoff.

Geelong continued their push up the table with an easy win over struggling Bendigo. With the Cats injury problems lots of lads where missing giving youngster Dan McKenna a chance to impress with a BOG performance.

For the Bombers, David Zaharakis kicked 2 goals but wasn't amongst the best. Named in the best were Essendon lads Jarrod Atkinson, Michael Quinn, David Myers and returning bigman Tom Bellchambers.

Collingwood got the cookies by 25 points over Sandringham, with Chris Bryan getting more goals kicking 3 this week. Chris Dawes also grabbed 2 snaggers. Jaxson Barham also booted 2 goals and was in the best. Steele Sidebottom kicked a goal but wasn't mentioned in the best.

For Sandy, young forward Tom Lynch booted 4 sausage rolls, while youngster Tom Simpkin was amongst the best.

Williamstown won a close one against the Coburg Tigers. For Williamstown's Bulldogs brigade Guy O'Keefe kicked 3 goals and was amongst the best. Tim Callan was very good too, while Jarrad Grant grabbed 2 snags too.

For Coburg's Richmond bunch, Graham Polak was named their best, while encouragingly for DTers, Mark Coughlan kicked 2 goals and was in the best. Joel Bowden & Jarrod Silvester were also in the best, while Cleve Hughes kicked 4 goals.

- In the SANFL, Sturt knocked off the Eagles by 56 points. For the Double Blues, Adelaide youngster Brodie Martin had a big influence while for the Eagles Port duo Matt Broadbent and Nick Salter (5 goals) were good again and continue their push for an AFL run.

West Adelaide stunned Central District by 8 points this weekend. For Central, Port Adelaide forward Matt Westhoff was okay with a couple of goals.

North Adelaide grabbed a big win over Norwood too, with Crows youngster Rory Sloane amongst the best. No mention of Taylor Walker in the papers either.

- In the WAFL, Swan Districts and West Perth had a draw with WCE bigman Mark Seaby booting a late snag after taking a pack grab in the goal square to level scores. For Swans, young Docker Clancee Pearce was terrific with 24 touches.

South Fremantle had a comfortable 47-point victory over East Perth with WCE rookie Callum Wilson kicking 5 goals for the Bulldogs, meaning he's got 16 in the last 3 weeks. Good form. For the Royals, another Eagles forward Ben McKinley was disappointing finishing scoreless.

Claremont won down in Mandurah over Peel with West Coast's Beau Wilkes going forward and booting 5 goals.

- In the QAFL, Brisbane Lions reserves smashed Southport by 86 points with Travis Johnstone pressing for an AFL recall with a BOG performance snagging 3 goals. Bradd Dalziell was very good too, along with Scott Harding (4 goals). Also Tom Rockliff kicked 3 goals.

- In the Canberra AFL, Sydney Swans reserves flogged Tuggeranong Hawks by 71 points with big forward Jesse White taking 14 grabs & booting 11 goals, making it 19 snags in the last 2 weeks. Surely he'll get an AFL recall next week. Amon Buchanan has a good case too, after 50 possessions and 5 goals, while schoolboy Dan Hannebery impressed again.

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Fraser Needs To Prove Fitness

Collingwood's $341k ruck Josh Fraser will face a race against time to be fit for Saturday night's clash with Hawthorn due to a knee injury sustained on the weekend.

Fraser, owned by 28,000 DT coaches and eyed by many more after injuries to fellow rucks Dean Cox and Aaron Sandilands, has a posterior cruciate ligament complaint in his right knee.

Pies footy manager Geoff Walsh said on Monday morning, “Our docs had a look at him on the weekend.

“He’s got a bit of swelling in the knee that he’s got history with; it’s been a troublesome one for a while.

"The swelling’s come down again a bit this morning,” Walsh said.

“We’ll just manage it a bit the first two or three days of the week, give him a pretty light program, and by about mid-week, we’ll know where he stands.”

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