KEY tall James Frawley and defender Dean Terlich will have to pass fitness tests for Melbourne’s clash against Richmond at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.
Elite performance manager Dave Misson said Frawley (toe/hamstring) and Terlich (concussion) would be assessed later in the week, after their setbacks against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG last round.
“Terlo suffered that mild concussion from the incident in the game. He’s pulled up pretty well. The docs are pretty happy with where he’s at,” he told Dee TV.
“He just had a jog around today (Tuesday) and did some light skills, but we expect him to train on Thursday and be available.
“James carried that toe injury into the game, which actually pulled up pretty well. During the game, he had a bit of hamstring tightness, which the physios were able to release and he played the rest of the game.
“We’re just monitoring him this week on both accounts to see where he’s at, but we’ll know a little bit more later in the week about James.”
Forward/ruckman Jack Fitzpatrick also faces a test after he hurt his ankle playing for Casey against the Northern Blues at Visy Park last Saturday.
“He came off early in the VFL [after he] rolled his ankle after a marking contest in the first quarter and that blew up pretty quickly,” Misson said.
“The doc wasn’t keen to send him back [on the ground] and that’s recovered pretty well. It’s gone down in the first couple of days [since the injury], but he’ll be a test again for this week.”
But big men Jake Spencer (ankle) and Max King (leg) are still out for another three to four weeks.
“We’ll try to get them going over the bye period and we’re hoping they’ll be back in a month or so,” Misson said.
Former co-captain Jack Trengove (foot) and young-gun Jesse Hogan (back) remain sidelined long term.
“Jack’s been in quite regularly working on upper body strength and doing some conditioning,” Misson said.
“Jesse is still at home and he’s due back this weekend, so he’ll have a couple more weeks without doing too much – just to let that back settle and then we’ll try and get him going post-bye.”
Melbourne injury list: round nine
Jack Fitzpatrick (ankle) – test
James Frawley (toe/hamstring) – test
Jesse Hogan (back) – indefinite
Max King (leg) – 3-4 weeks
Jake Spencer (ankle) – 3-4 weeks
Dean Terlich (concussion) – test
Jack Trengove (foot) – season
