KEY forward Jesse Hogan remains a 50/50 chance of playing in Saturday’s clash against Hawthorn at the MCG.
Hogan injured his knee when he crashed into the point post during Melbourne’s two-point win over the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG last Sunday.
Elite performance manager Dave Misson said the club was giving Hogan every opportunity to play this round.
“He’s not too bad. The knee’s still a little bit puffy and he’s a bit sore, so he’s got a little bit of work to do in the next 24 hours, but we’re pretty confident that he can get out there and do a bit of training tomorrow (Thursday),” he told Melbourne TV.
“He’s got until to Saturday, so it’s getting significantly better every day.
“He’ll need to improve a little bit to play, but we’re giving him every chance.”
Young forward/ruckman Max King injured his wrist playing for Casey in the AFL Victoria Development League against Coburg at Piranha Park last Saturday. But Misson said the rookie was a “pretty good” chance to play this weekend.
“He had scans earlier in the week and it didn’t show too much structural damage there, but he’s improved significantly every day,” he said.
“He did some ball work today (Wednesday) and we’ll look to train him tomorrow and hopefully he’ll get up to play.”
Misson said defender/midfielder Heritier Lumumba remained sidelined indefinitely with concussion.
“’H’ we’re just continuing to work through his concussion issues and he’s doing some running and some weights,” he said.
“We’ll probably have a better idea this time next week as to whether he’ll play again [this season].”
And first-year ruckman Mitch King continues to make impressive strides from his season-ending knee reconstruction, according to Misson.
“Mitch has started his running program and is doing well,” he said.
“He’s looking better every session and is feeling more comfortable getting out on the track with his rhythm and his running.
“He’s working really hard in the gym, so we’re pleased with Mitch.”
Melbourne injury list: round 20
Jesse Hogan (knee) – test
Max King (wrist) – test
Mitch King (knee) – season
Heritier Lumumba (concussion) – indefinite
