Bobby Hill ruled out of Pies’ first final; Hogan and others ready for Giants’ recall; Garner to miss two games

Hill has had a bumpy two months because of personal issues, and has dropped in and out of training.

He has played just a half of AFL football since round 16, when he was the substitute against the Brisbane Lions in round 22, while he also had one game in the VFL on managed minutes.

Hill and McRae recently had dinner together, when Hill asked his coach to leave the door ajar for his return this season.

McCreery has been battling foot bruising but completed run-throughs under McRae’s supervision, and later joined in end-to-end drills and match simulation.

“Beau will play. He has done everything he needed to do to prove his fitness today. We will back him in. We will back our medical department in,” McRae said.

Midfielder Jordan De Goey took a knock to his ankle and left the training track but returned later.

Veteran full-back Jeremy Howe (groin) will miss Thursday’s clash, and did not train with his teammates.

McRae said Wil Parker, who joined several first-choice teammates in defence for the team wearing black in match simulation, was under serious consideration for a recall.

“He played well in Adelaide only a couple of rounds ago. We just love his fight and tenacity around the ball and the man. He is certainly a name [under consideration]. His magnet will be hard to remove from the team,” McRae said.

Despite speculation Daniel McStay could be sent to defence to replace Howe, he was used as a forward in match simulation. McRae said it was unlikely McStay would be used as a frontline defender. Fellow tall Mason Cox is also being considered for a return.

The Magpies will head to Adelaide confident they can win and advance into a preliminary final. They were beaten by only three points by the Crows in Adelaide in round 23 when they ultimately squandered 71 inside 50s (the Crows had 34). It was the Crows’ first win against the Magpies since 2016.

The Magpies replicated the dimensions of their training field to those of the Adelaide Oval, allowing players to adjust to the narrow wings. The factor they couldn’t replicate but need to prepare for is the largely hostile crowd waiting for them in Adelaide, even though there will be a fleet of buses from Melbourne helping Magpie members make the interstate trip.

The Crows will be under a searing spotlight in their first finals campaign since 2017. They will also hope to celebrate Taylor Walker’s 300th game in style.

Loading

“We are not naive to think we are playing a team that has won nine games in a row. They finished on top of the ladder,” McRae said.

“There is a huge build-up in Adelaide for what’s coming, a real excitement around [Crows coach] Matty Nicks’ first finals campaign, [many] of their players playing their first final.

“That is a huge build-up – we need to embrace and accept that. It’s a hostile crowd, there was a record 54,000 crowd before … we are going over with a real energy, but we are understanding of what we are getting into.”

Giants facing ‘tough’ but enviable selection call

Vince Rugari

The Giants are facing an enviable selection crunch – one that Toby Greene is happy to leave to coach Adam Kingsley to figure out – as five of their first-choice players near full fitness ahead of Saturday’s AFL elimination final.

Reigning Coleman medallist Jesse Hogan, veteran winger Josh Kelly, small forward Brent Daniels, defender Jack Buckley and livewire Jake Stringer are all in contention to face Hawthorn in front of a near-capacity crowd at Engie Stadium.

Buckley (calf) is considered the longest shot, but the rest of them are set to give Kingsley an almighty headache at this week’s match committee meeting, including Daniels (adductor), who looked frustrated when he came off the track early on Tuesday but remains a “big chance” to play, according to Greene, since he logged some important training minutes on Sunday.

Daniels is historically one of the club’s strongest finals performers but has only played a handful of games this year.

The challenge for Kingsley will be to balance continuity – the Giants have won nine of their past 10 games to come into the AFL finals as one of the competition’s form teams – with the impact those top-liners could bring and the risk of those inclusions backfiring if they aren’t properly match-fit.

“You want guys who can play 120 minutes and play well,” Greene said.

“You want guys who know what they’re doing, and we’ve got 30 guys who are available at the moment who can do that.

“It’s Kingers who has a bit of a tough job Thursday, I’m sure, trying to pick the team, but it’s great to have that sort of problem and those boys have done a mountain of work to get themselves right as well.

“That’s what he’s paid to do, pick the team and coach, so I’ll leave it to him. But whoever he picks I’ll be backing in, and I know we’ll have guys ready.”

Greene declared Hogan (foot) was “good to go”, which is an enormous boon for a Giants’ attack which has kicked more than 100 points in all of those nine recent victories – a level of production and harmony that, for a lesser player, Kingsley would be reluctant to disrupt.

“[Hogan] turned it around pretty quickly because we weren’t sure if we were going to get him to the first final,,” he said. “It’s great to have him, and we know what he can bring, and I’m sure he’s going to be hard to play [against] on the weekend.”

This is the eighth season in the past 10 in which the Giants have qualified for the finals, and the fifth time they will do so from the bottom half of the top eight.

For Greene, 31, and his generation of Giants players, opportunities to win a flag before retirement are quickly running out.

When the club entered the competition in 2012 with a list packed with top-end talent, there were widespread predictions that they and fellow expansion side Gold Coast would eventually dominate the AFL and claim multiple premierships.

But the Giants have only made one grand final (2019) and had a shattering straight-sets exit last season with disappointing losses to the Swans and eventual premiers Brisbane, while the Suns are playing finals football for the first time this year.

Loading

“I’m under no illusion how hard it is and how you’ve got to deliver when it matters,” Greene said.

“So that’s all we’re worried about; trying to do that. Start with Hawthorn and then go from there, whoever it is. It would be amazing to do, but it’s the end goal. You’ve got to do all the work to get there.

“That’s been 24 weeks of the season … you work to put yourself in a spot to play this final series and then sort of reset and go again. It’s not something you think about every day, but it would be nice to have at the end of the career.”

North Superstar Garner sidelined after ankle injury

Hannah Kennelly

North Melbourne have won their past three-consecutive games, but the reigning premiers will be without their captain Jasmine Garner for at least two games while the star player recovers from an ankle injury.

Garner had eight disposals and a goal before sustaining the injury when she landed awkwardly in a second-quarter marking contest during her side’s record-breaking 100-point thumping of Fremantle on Sunday.

North’s four-time best-and-fairest winner limped off the field clutching her left ankle and did not play for the rest of the game.

Loading

On Tuesday afternoon, North Melbourne confirmed Garner “avoided a serious ankle injury” but would miss at least the next two games.

“Garner was sent for scans on Monday, which cleared her of any structural damage to her ankle,” the club said in a statement.

Garner was instrumental in North’s first flag last year and last week produced one of the best individual AFLW performances, kicking a career-best six goals from 30 disposals.