ELITE performance manager Dave Misson says midfielder/forward Aaron vandenBerg is 50/50 to play against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

vandenBerg hurt his ankle in Melbourne’s win over the Western Bulldogs at Craigieburn last Sunday and could miss the final NAB Challenge clash before the season proper. 

“Aaron rolled his ankle in the third quarter. It was a little bit sore after the game but [it’s] nothing structural; there’s no serious damage there but he’s probably touch and go for this weekend,” Misson told Dee TV.  

Key defender Lynden Dunn is also in some doubt, due to a groin injury.

“Lynden had a tight groin in the middle of the second quarter and it’s something that we didn’t really want to risk,” Misson said.

“He’s someone who really doesn’t miss training and plays high game minutes so we felt it’s an opportunity to unload him. Again, we’ll make a decision on Lynden towards the end of the week.”

Dasher Heritier Lumumba (ankles) and ruckman/forward Max King (knee) will return this weekend, according to Misson.

“Max will definitely play VFL. ‘H’ we’re not a hundred per cent sure he’ll definitely play but whether it’s at AFL or VFL [level] that will be decided by the match committee,” he said.

Midfielder Angus Brayshaw, who missed the second NAB Challenge clash due to a knee injury sustained in the opening seconds of Melbourne’s win over Port Adelaide at Elizabeth in week one, is making good progress.

“He [Angus] has had a good week to date running – mainly straight-line running. We expect him to do some agility and skill work on Friday and he’s definitely a chance to potentially play for Casey next weekend,” Misson said.

Big men Chris Dawes (calf) and Jake Spencer (foot) are making headway from their setbacks.

“Dawsey is in the middle of a pretty solid running program. As we mentioned here previously, we’re taking a little bit longer with him so he’ll probably continue that running rehab for a couple of weeks and then he’ll need a couple of weeks of training before he plays. Realistically, he’s probably a month away [from playing],’ Misson said.

“Jake similarly is doing some decent running and some stuff on the AlterG treadmill primarily and [he’s] going pretty well with that plan so we’ll just monitor him over the next week or so.”

Misson said livewire Jay Kennedy-Harris is also getting close to a return.

“Jay’s out of rehab. He trained well on the weekend and did another good session with the group today. We just want him to have a couple of weeks at training so he’ll probably be available next weekend,” he said.  

Rookie Joel Smith is on the mend after suffering from food poisoning.  

“He [Joel] took a visit to the Frying Dutchman seafood restaurant and unfortunately had a dodgy prawn so he was real crook,” Misson said.

“We’re probably going to give Joel another week of full training before he plays his first game at Casey next week.”

Misson said Christian Petracca and Jack Trengove had been training solidly after their long layoffs.

“They’ve been solidly back in the group with Trenners [back] for nearly a month and Christian a couple of weeks. Both of them have got a few more weeks of full training first before they play a game but they’re going really well,” he said.

Draftees Sam Weideman, Liam Hulett and Mitch King will all play their first practice match for the year this weekend, when they don the Casey jumper.

“The three tall guys – they’ve actually had a really good pre-season most of them; they haven’t missed a beat,” he said.

“They’ve started to adapt to the AFL lifestyle and they’re coping well with the training loads so we’re looking forward to seeing them don the boots this weekend for Casey and having a really good hit-out.”