MELBOURNE will have almost a full squad to choose from this weekend, with just half-back Heritier Lumumba (concussion) and first-year ruckman Mitch King (knee) set to be the only players on the sidelines.
Elite performance manager Dave Misson said the silky-skilled Christian Salem (illness) and small forward/midfielder Jay Kennedy-Harris (hamstring) were set to return after several weeks on the sidelines.
“Both of those guys (Salem and Kennedy-Harris) have been [out] reasonably long-term,” he told Melbourne TV.
“Christian had his thyroid illness and Jay had his hamstring [injury], but they’ve trained really strongly in the last few weeks and we look forward to seeing them come out and play on the weekend in the VFL.
Big men Chris Dawes (back spasm), Sam Frost (illness) and Max King (groin) were all set to return after missing last weekend, according to Misson.
“Dawesy had a back spasm the day before the game and Max tweaked his groin a little bit in the last training session, but both of those guys have trained strongly this week, so we expect them to come back,” he said.
“[Frost] had illness [last week] and we didn’t want to take him in [the game] because he was crook, but he’s trained strongly this week, so he should be right.”
Misson said rookies Josh Wagner and Joel Smith pulled up strongly, after returning last weekend.
“Josh did really well. He came back and played in the AFL, in his first game in a month and he handled himself really well,” he said.
“Joel was more of an extended layoff with a groin [injury] and he came through the [AFL Victoria] Development [League] with Casey.
“He went really well and importantly he pulled up well, so he’ll be another one to back up again this week.”
Misson said Mitch King was set to start running this week, but Lumumba was out indefinitely.
“Mitch is hopefully going to have a run tomorrow (Wednesday), which will be exciting for him, as he has the long run ahead from the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) rehab,” he said.
“’H’ is going OK and he’s doing a bit of running, but because it’s his second concussion in a short period of time, we’re taking a conservative approach.
“We’re not putting a timeframe on when he’ll be back.
Melbourne injury list: round 18
Chris Dawes (back spasm) – available
Sam Frost (illness) – available
Jay Kennedy-Harris (hamstring) – available
Max King (groin) – available
Mitch King (knee) – season
Heritier Lumumba (concussion) – indefinite
Christian Salem (illness) – available
