Go Swannies
11th May 2004, 11:20 PM
Eagles gain four for crucial home game
_- The West Australian
CRAIG O'DONOGHUE
Struggling West Coast is likely to be strengthened by the return of four senior players for Saturday's crunch game against Sydney at Subiaco Oval.
Chad Fletcher (shoulder), Rowan Jones (groin) and Chad Morrison (knee) all proved their fitness at training yesterday while Quinten Lynch (suspension) is also available.
But the Eagles could be without defender Kasey Green, who was yesterday cited for kicking Melbourne's Cameron Bruce in the final quarter of Sunday's loss at the MCG. Green will appear before the tribunal tomorrow.
The Eagles took a young team to Victoria to play the Demons so the availability of Jones, Morrison, Fletcher and Lynch is a major boost.
There was further good news yesterday when the experienced Daniel Chick trained for the first time since surgery on his thigh three weeks ago.
Chick struggled to run last week and appeared several weeks away from a return. But yesterday he repeatedly strode out and kicked with his injured leg.
"He's improved dramatically in a week," West Coast football manager Steve Woodhouse said. "We always said it was an injury that would keep him out for between four to eight weeks. Last week, it looked like it would almost certainly be the latter but he's been having regular treatment and it's improved. He's actually a silly chance to play next week.
"There is still some damage to the quad where the cork was sustained so while it's great that he's improved, given the nature of the injury and the fact that he's lost match conditioning, we'll wait another week and have a look at him then."
Although Chick's improvement has been dramatic, Josh Wooden's comeback from a broken collarbone ended when he broke the bone again while playing for Subiaco on Friday night. Wooden was involved in a heavy collision and had surgery on Saturday.
"He's really disappointed," Woodhouse said. "It's set him back again. It's the second time it's happened and whenever you break a bone, there's a risk it will happen again. It was his third game back so he'd tested it a bit. Sadly, it happened again."
Key forward Andrew McDougall took the unusual step of training with the WAFL and rehab players yesterday. The Eagles always complete a short recovery running session around Kitchener Park the day after a game but McDougall joined in the full training session and spent a long time talking to coach John Worsfold and assistant Peter Sumich.
The youngster has struggled to make an impact this year, kicking just eight goals from his six games.
Paul Johnson and Ashley Hansen opposed each other in wrestling training on Kitchener Park yesterday as part of a gruelling exercise for those who did not play in either the AFL or WAFL at the weekend. Only two WAFL matches were played last week and with Swan Districts having the bye, Hansen and Johnson had the week off.
The big men pushed, rolled, grabbed and slammed each other, desperately trying to gain the upper hand in the battle for a place in the senior team. Johnson has played one AFL match and was impressive during the pre-season but he has not had an impact on the WAFL in recent weeks. Hansen recently resumed from shoulder surgery and is yet to make his AFL debut.
May 11, 2004
? 2004 West Australian Newspapers Limited
All Rights Reserved.
_- The West Australian
CRAIG O'DONOGHUE
Struggling West Coast is likely to be strengthened by the return of four senior players for Saturday's crunch game against Sydney at Subiaco Oval.
Chad Fletcher (shoulder), Rowan Jones (groin) and Chad Morrison (knee) all proved their fitness at training yesterday while Quinten Lynch (suspension) is also available.
But the Eagles could be without defender Kasey Green, who was yesterday cited for kicking Melbourne's Cameron Bruce in the final quarter of Sunday's loss at the MCG. Green will appear before the tribunal tomorrow.
The Eagles took a young team to Victoria to play the Demons so the availability of Jones, Morrison, Fletcher and Lynch is a major boost.
There was further good news yesterday when the experienced Daniel Chick trained for the first time since surgery on his thigh three weeks ago.
Chick struggled to run last week and appeared several weeks away from a return. But yesterday he repeatedly strode out and kicked with his injured leg.
"He's improved dramatically in a week," West Coast football manager Steve Woodhouse said. "We always said it was an injury that would keep him out for between four to eight weeks. Last week, it looked like it would almost certainly be the latter but he's been having regular treatment and it's improved. He's actually a silly chance to play next week.
"There is still some damage to the quad where the cork was sustained so while it's great that he's improved, given the nature of the injury and the fact that he's lost match conditioning, we'll wait another week and have a look at him then."
Although Chick's improvement has been dramatic, Josh Wooden's comeback from a broken collarbone ended when he broke the bone again while playing for Subiaco on Friday night. Wooden was involved in a heavy collision and had surgery on Saturday.
"He's really disappointed," Woodhouse said. "It's set him back again. It's the second time it's happened and whenever you break a bone, there's a risk it will happen again. It was his third game back so he'd tested it a bit. Sadly, it happened again."
Key forward Andrew McDougall took the unusual step of training with the WAFL and rehab players yesterday. The Eagles always complete a short recovery running session around Kitchener Park the day after a game but McDougall joined in the full training session and spent a long time talking to coach John Worsfold and assistant Peter Sumich.
The youngster has struggled to make an impact this year, kicking just eight goals from his six games.
Paul Johnson and Ashley Hansen opposed each other in wrestling training on Kitchener Park yesterday as part of a gruelling exercise for those who did not play in either the AFL or WAFL at the weekend. Only two WAFL matches were played last week and with Swan Districts having the bye, Hansen and Johnson had the week off.
The big men pushed, rolled, grabbed and slammed each other, desperately trying to gain the upper hand in the battle for a place in the senior team. Johnson has played one AFL match and was impressive during the pre-season but he has not had an impact on the WAFL in recent weeks. Hansen recently resumed from shoulder surgery and is yet to make his AFL debut.
May 11, 2004
? 2004 West Australian Newspapers Limited
All Rights Reserved.