Loading

“We just need to give it that little extra time so it can settle down a little bit more but that [finals] will be three, four weeks after his last incident.”

“So I feel pretty confident that, the best-case scenario, getting through and playing, that he’ll be fit and available.”

McGovern did not start training with the rest of his teammates on Friday morning, raising further doubt over his fitness after experiencing hamstring tightness against the Eagles, though Voss said he did not need to take part in the whole session to play.

“We’ll give him every opportunity to be able to get up so his schedule will run a little bit different to everyone else,” Voss said.

Rebounding defender Adam Saad has been declared a certain starter, just two weeks after a hamstring issue against Hawthorn.

Though such injuries usually require a minimum of three weeks to recover from, Voss was adamant the Blues were not taking a risk with Saad, whose strain Voss said was “very low grade”.

“If we really pushed, we probably could have done something last week, but obviously, we chose not to do that, given the flight over to Perth as well as a factor,” Voss said.

“He came pretty close last week, which he gives us a fair bit of confidence that he’s going to be right this week.”

Loading

Voss was extremely confident small forward Corey Durdin would line up despite dislocating his shoulder against the Eagles, but would need to break through the pain barrier.

“We have to probably accept there is an element of risk,” Voss said. “But he seems pretty confident.”

Voss tempered expectations over a possible finals return for Sam Docherty, who underwent a knee reconstruction after the opening round.

“There’s just so many factors that go into that decision and we’ll make sure that everyone knows that all those variables will be considered very, very seriously,” Voss said. “It won’t be just sort of something that we roll out.

“He’s been part of the lengthy rehab program, and we need to respect that. But all those sort of risks, if you want to call it, will be managed both for him and the team, and we’ll go from there.

“As you can imagine, probably the next what 48 hours, 72 hours, probably more what I’m concentrating on, more so than what happens next week.”

The battle for Battle heats up

AAP

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon admits he has “no idea” where Josh Battle will end up next season as the in-demand defender weighs up his future.

A beefed-up offer from the club could mean St Kilda retain the 25-year-old free agent’s services or force Hawthorn to increase their bid, ensuring the Saints secure a first-round draft pick as compensation.

“Josh has invested a lot in us, we’ve invested a lot in him, but I just let it play out,” Lyon said on Friday.

“He’s playing great footy, we have a strong relationship, but at the end of the day, it’s a professional environment and there’s mechanisms that people either avail themselves of or they don’t.

“That’ll all wash out but I’m really focused on the game [against Carlton], as is Josh.”

Pressed on which way he thinks Battle is leaning, Lyon said: “I’ve got not idea. I know he’s focused on training – that’s the idea I have.”

Lyon said Battle received votes in the Saints’ best-and-fairest award last week for his role on Jeremy Cameron, and will have another big job against Carlton at Marvel Stadium.

The Blues will be without injured star forwards Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay as they chase a result that would guarantee them a finals spot.

St Kilda’s comeback win over finals-bound Geelong was the fifth victory in their past seven games. But the clash with Carlton will bring their campaign to an end, with the Saints (10-12) failing to repeat last year’s promising finals appearance.

“There’s disappointment, obviously, but I don’t think it changes what we were doing,” Lyon said.

“There’s been a lot of wins, a lot of youth, a lot of debutants again this year. Close losses we learnt from and I think the good thing is where we were stuttering, we’ve taken some great lessons on different aspects of our game and improved it.”

Rachele’s remorse after Crows drop him

AAP

Adelaide’s young gun Josh Rachele says he’s deeply remorseful after being axed for repeatedly failing to adhere to the club’s team-first values.

Crows coach Matthew Nicks said Rachele’s dumping wasn’t solely related to the past two weeks when the 21-year-old has been central to on- and off-field controversy.

“It’s not isolated, it’s not a moment, it has got nothing to do with this week,” Nicks told reporters on Friday.

“There’s a lot more to this than a period of time. It’s about values, about the standards that we are looking to uphold consistently. Central to that is being team first.

“Josh and I have had a number of conversations, that’s not isolated to recent events. This is something we’ve been working on for a long period of time, not just Josh and I, but the team and what is it we stand for.”

Loading

Rachele angered his club and Port Adelaide with inflammatory comments leading in to last Saturday night’s Showdown between the South Australian rivals during a paid radio spot by saying “Port supporters don’t have many teeth”.

During the game, which developed into one of the most fiery clashes between the arch foes, Rachele celebrated kicking a goal by sprinting to the boundary and pointing at his teeth.

Rachele, before training with state league teammates on Friday morning, said he accepted Nicks’ reasoning while pledging to remain at the Crows.

“I’m disappointed with how last week turned out, I’m very remorseful for what happened,” he told reporters. “One of our main values as a club is prioritising others and it was something I didn’t do last week and over a couple of other things too.”

Rachele dismissed any notion the furore would impact his future at the Crows, where he’s contracted until the end of 2029. “No, not at all. I absolutely love the club,” he said.

Nicks said Rachele’s overt goal celebration against the Power wasn’t the tipping point in dropping the third-year forward rated among one of the league’s brightest talents. “There are a lot of things that Josh is doing that we just love,” Nicks said. “We love his energy, we love his enthusiasm, he brings an incredible passion to our group. I’ll make it clear: this has nothing to do with the way Josh celebrates.”

Hinkley’s hopes on Houston

AAP

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley is supremely confident suspended defender Dan Houston will continue his career at the club.

Loading

Houston copped a season-ending five-game suspension for a bump that knocked out Adelaide’s Izak Rankine in last Saturday night’s clash of the SA rivals.

Houston’s ban rules him out of Port’s looming finals campaign and comes amid interest from rival clubs in Melbourne in luring the All-Australian half-back.

“He has got a three-year contract with our footy club, loves our footy club,” Hinkley told reporters on Friday. “I’m really comfortable that Dan will play more games for Port.”

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.