MELBOURNE will be without forward Casey Sherriff for the remainder of the 2023 NAB AFLW Finals Series after the Demon sustained a season-ending injury on Saturday night.

Sherriff left the ground during the match with an arm concern and following the conclusion of the game, scans confirmed that she had suffered a fracture.

“Casey came off with that arm injury, it’s something she’s had before and unfortunately, she has sustained a fracture again,” Sam Batterton, AFLW Head of High-Performance, told Melbourne Media.

“That will rule her out for the rest of the season which is really unfortunate.”

Paxy Paxman was a late withdrawal from Saturday’s match, with hamstring awareness affecting the midfielder during preparations at the ground.

“During the warm-up, Paxy mentioned that she had some hamstring tightness,” Batterton said.

“She was assessed, and it was deemed that it was just tightness but it was too much of a risk, so we pulled her out of the game.

“But she has pulled up really well, so she’ll train this week and if she ticks a few boxes, she’ll look to be available on the weekend.”

Rhi Watt was also removed from the match during the opening term following a tackle that resulted in a concussion.

“She’s entered concussion protocols,” Batterton said.

“So, she’ll be unavailable this week and will tick off her markers as progress allows.”

In positive news, Demon duo Aimee Mackin (ankle) and Maddi Gay (hamstring) are eyeing a return to play this weekend after time on the sidelines.

“[Aimee] trained really well on the weekend and ticked off a good session today,” Batterton said.

“So, she’ll enter full training at the back end of this week and with all going well, will look to be available.

“And similarly to Aimee, [Maddi] has ticked off quite a few of her markers, so she’ll look to integrate back into the training group on Thursday and if she gets through that, she could be available also.”

Gab Colvin will continue to progress through her respective rehab schedule as she works towards a return from Achilles soreness.

“Gab is back running and we’ll look to build her up in the back end of this week,” Batterton said.

“She’s starting to turn a corner and progress in the right direction.”

Two weeks post-surgery on a fractured wrist, Sarah Lampard has started to re-join training on a modified program.

“She’s doing really well,” Batterton said.

“She’s running, changing direction and has integrated into quite a bit of our training, just with the use of her right arm.

“She is still waiting for that scan date in a few weeks and once that’s ticked off, she could potentially be available right at the back end of finals." 

See below for full injury list.