Parish was a late withdrawal for the Dons’ round 10 game against North Melbourne after waking up sore on the morning of the match. The delay takes in games against Geelong and Collingwood, who are both vying for spots in the eight.

“It’s disappointing for Darcy, as he was just at the start of a conservative reintroduction to running when he felt some discomfort. It will add a couple of weeks to his original return-to-play timeline,” Bombers football boss Daniel McPherson said.

Despite the rises of Sam Durham and Jye Caldwell this year, Parish, an All-Australian in 2021, is arguably the club’s second-best midfielder behind skipper Zach Merrett.

Youngster Zach Reid, a top 10 pick in 2020, needs surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle, and is likely to miss the rest of the home and away season, continuing his unlucky run with injury.

Carlton face a potential selection headache this week, with ruckman Marc Pittonet listed as a test to return from a finger injury.

The Blues have won all six games when Tom De Koning has been the sole frontline ruckman as opposed to two from six when Pittonet and De Koning have operated in tandem.

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De Koning has thrived carrying the bulk of the ruck load though has also had impact as a forward in wins against Greater Western Sydney and Melbourne when supporting Pittonet.

The Blues’ clearance game is stronger with Pittonet in the ruck but their turnover game has suffered with two big men in the 23. They have also been without their best pressure forwards in these matches as well.

Carlton coach Michael Voss is not philosophically wedded to either ruck model, saying form would determine selection.

Two-game ban stands for young gun Reid

AAP

West Coast wunderkind Harley Reid has failed to halve his two-game dangerous tackle suspension at the AFL tribunal.

Last year’s No.1 draft pick, Reid was cited for slinging St Kilda’s Darcy Wilson to the ground in the Eagles’ 14-point loss at Optus Stadium on Saturday.

Wilson’s head hit the turf as a result of the forceful tackle, but he was cleared of concussion and returned to the field.

The league’s match review officer charged Reid with rough conduct and graded the incident as careless contact, high-impact and high contact, drawing a two-match ban.

West Coast argued the tackle should be deemed medium impact, in a bid to downgrade the suspension to one game.

Reid, 19, will miss Saturday’s game against North Melbourne, then the round-15 game against Essendon after the bye, while he is ineligible for the AFL’s Rising Star award due to his suspension.

Dusty’s 300th celebrations on hold

Andrew Wu
Dustin Martin has been ruled out of Richmond’s game against Adelaide due to illness, paving the way for the superstar to play his 300th game the following week in front of the Tiger army at the MCG.

There was drama off the field at Punt Road when the fire alarm rang on Tuesday morning, forcing all staff to leave the club’s headquarters while fire crew dealt with the matter. Training, though, continued unaffected as the oval is considered a safe zone. This masthead saw two fire trucks arrive at the venue. The club later confirmed it was a false alarm.

One real issue confronting the Tigers is Martin’s unavailability after his absence from the team’s main training session for the week. Tigers coach Adem Yze said Martin would most likely have been rested this week anyway, but this has taken the decision out of the match committee’s hands.

It opens the likelihood of Martin playing his milestone game on Saturday week against Hawthorn at the MCG, when he will become only the seventh Tiger to play 300 matches for the club.

“He’s a bit crook today. We only have one training session. It was always going to be on how he got through today. There’s two or three players in that category that are over 30 who we have to monitor today, but he’s actually ill today,” Yze said.

“That’s taken it out of our hands this weekend. The silver lining to that is he gets to play his 300th in front of our crowd against the Hawks next week.”

Yze said Martin was unlikely to have played even if he had not been sick.

“There’s an element of risk whether they get up to play anyway. We want to take fit players. Whether he got up and trained today or not, there would have been a big question mark,” he said.

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One of the greatest players of the modern era, Martin’s absence is a blow to the club’s hopes of a backs-to-the-wall win on the road.

Though removed a few years from his best, Martin turned back the clock in the Dreamtime game a fortnight ago, and was also influential in the Tigers’ brave loss to Geelong on Saturday.

“It’s not what he does with the ball,” Yze said.

“He’s engaged with our younger forwards. His organisation and his smarts on the field is like we’ve got another coach out on the field. We’re going to miss that. He’s a big out. He’s been in good form the last few weeks; we’re going to miss him, for sure.”

The severely undermanned Tigers suffered more casualties against the Cats, losing promising young forward Mykelti Lefau to a season-ending knee injury and Marlion Pickett (calf), but there is good news on the injury front.

Star forward Shai Bolton will return from concussion, Dion Prestia is available after a week off and reigning club champion Tim Taranto is also expected to play, as long as he recovers well from training.

Star forward Tom Lynch and senior midfielder Jacob Hopper are also nearing their returns, possibly against Hawthorn, though a decision will be made late next week, Yze said.

“They’re progressing nicely,” the coach said.

Yze said Pickett had been counselled by the club after making an obscene gesture to the crowd in Geelong as he came off the field with a calf injury.

He said Pickett was responding to crowd abuse over his alleged involvement in the theft of $380,000 Australian and foreign currencies from safes.

“He has copped a little bit the last few weeks from the crowd based on what’s happening off field with him,” Yze said.

“It’s not the way we want him to respond, but we understand the reasons why.

“We’ve had a chat to him, and he knows it’s not the right thing to do.”

Pie Elliott sidelined for at least another six weeks

Jon Pierik

Collingwood star Jamie Elliott will not play for at least another six weeks, but fellow premiership gun Jordan De Goey has built a strong base and is expected to return immediately after the mid-season break.

Elliott has not played since the Magpies edged the Blues by a goal in round eight, the goalkicking small forward battling a vascular issue.

Amid speculation about whether he will play again this season, Magpies performance boss Jarrod Wade said on Tuesday Elliott, 31, was tracking well but won’t resume until round 18 at the earliest. Wade said Elliott still needed to complete a big block of running before he was in the frame for selection.

“He has received some positive news over the past 48, 72 hours. Some of the follow-up testing he has had for the vascular issue has shown us that the issue has resolved, or is almost getting to the point of being 95 per cent resolved,” Wade said.

“What that means is, from a programming point of view, is he has been able to complete a really good program inside … we’ll look to get back to running … at the back end of this week. That’s a big milestone for him, to get back to running, and the issue is still resolving, but it’s the last 5 per cent to go now.”

Midfielder Reef McInnes (concussion) has cleared concussion protocols and is available to face Melbourne in the King’s Birthday clash on Monday, while Will Hoskin-Elliott (hamstring) will need to prove his fitness at training on Saturday.

Wade said De Goey (abdomen) was running at 85 per cent pace, and had rebuilt a strong base, but would not be available until after the team’s bye. However, he is expected back for the first game after the break, against the Gold Coast Suns in round 16.

Forward Brody Mihocek (hamstring) and veteran Scott Pendlebury (bicep) are also due to return against the Suns. Ball magnet Tom Mitchell (foot) is one to three weeks away from resuming.

Mason Cox is still feeling the impact of concussion, and remains in protocols, but won’t play for up to seven weeks because of a medial collateral ligament. He can only complete “low level” rehabilitation on the knee because of the concussion protocols.

Prized Swan signs five-year deal

Jon Pierik
Sydney forward Will Hayward has become the latest young star to sign a long-term deal amid a frenzied bidding war for talent across the league.

A day after Brisbane midfielder Hugh McCluggage and Greater Western Sydney ace Sam Taylor confirmed their multimillion-dollar contracts, the Swans revealed they had retained another of their prized assets.

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Hayward, a key plank of their premiership bid in life post-Lance Franklin, has signed a five-year extension, eschewing free agency and bids from Carlton and clubs in his native South Australia. He will remain a Swan at least until the end of 2029.

“Since I was drafted, the Swans have been great to me and my family, and I’m so happy that I will be here at the club for the long term,” Hayward said.

“I feel extremely lucky that the club has put its faith in me, and our team feels we’re on the right path, so I can’t wait to get stuck in and try to achieve more success here in Sydney.

“We feel we’re in a really good position to launch for the second half of the season, and I’m excited about what we could produce over the next few years.”

Hayward has had a strong 2024, booting 22 goals in 11 games, including four-goal bags against the Giants and Fremantle.

The Swans started this season with plenty of work to do to retain their elite young talent, but can now add Hayward to a list comprising James Rowbottom, Errol Gulden and Ollie Florent. But the man arguably higher on this list, Chad Warner, has put contract discussions on hold, although he has indicated he wants to remain at the club.

Hayward’s signature comes as a rise in the AFL salary cap – set to hit $17.7 million in 2025 – and the spectre of the Tasmania Devils joining the league in 2028, has clubs splashing cash to poach – and retain – talented players.

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Taylor, an All-Australian and club best and fairest in 2022, is one of the league’s premier defenders, so the Giants pounced to extend his deal beyond the one-year remaining, aware he was to be a restricted free agent after the 2025 campaign.

Giants football boss Jason McCartney said the changing landscape of the game meant the club had to act quickly.

“Obviously, Sam was due to come out of contract next year as a restricted free agent,” McCartney said on SEN.

“We know the landscape around that and how it operates … but this is a no-brainer.

“It’s a reality now with free agency because if you’ve got a good free agent, and obviously Sam is one of the highest quality that would be available next year, if you’re not prepared to go there, someone else certainly will and probably [offer them] longer.”

Industry sources who did not wish to comment publicly because they were not authorised to speak about a rival club estimate Taylor, 25, will earn close to $1 million a season.

Taylor told Fox Footy there had been strong rival interest in him – Fremantle and West Coast did try to lure the native West Australian home – but he insisted he had no inclination to leave.

“The Giants are a great club, I’m surrounded by good people and this is where I want to be,” he said.

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“The club came to my manager early in the season and started discussing it. I was pretty happy to make a call early, I didn’t want to stress about it too much.

“I didn’t really want to entertain that [rival interest] either.”

Taylor ranks No.3 for intercept marks in the AFL this season, behind only Brisbane’s Harris Andrews and the Western Bulldogs’ Liam Jones.

Total player payments per club have leapt from $15,022,778 last year to $15,788,222 this year, before rising to $17.76 million in 2025, $18.29 million in 2026 and $18.44 million in 2027. There were 19 players last year who earned seven-figure salaries, according to the AFL.

Hayward, Taylor and McCluggage, 26, join the likes of Harry McKay, Charlie Curnow, Darcy Moore and Zach Merrett, who have all signed long-term deals in recent years.

McCluggage had also been the target of rival clubs, but the Lions’ vice-captain stayed loyal.

A former South Warrnambool and Greater Western Victoria Rebels junior who was drafted at No.3, McCluggage said he wanted to repay the faith the club had shown in him and help deliver a premiership. He has signed until the end of 2031.

“I still feel as though we have unfinished business,” the 166-game veteran said on Tuesday.

“I love how far we have come since Fages [coach Chris Fagan] got here, and the attitude that we have towards consistently getting better as players and people.

“We have had so many great experiences to learn from and use to get to where we want to be.

“The challenge now is to remain a good club and football team long into the future like the best clubs in the competition are able to do.”

McCluggage is averaging 25.4 disposals, 5.3 marks, 4.6 clearances and 4.7 inside 50s in 2024.

“I’ve had so many great role models in fellow teammates, coaches and mentors along the way and I hope that I can be that person for the next group of players coming through,” he said.

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