It could be a special return to AFL football for Wayne Milera Junior this weekend as he pushes to play in just his second Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
The speedy half-back has not pulled on the tricolours since injuring his AC joint in Round Five and is now one of three Crows facing tests ahead of the side’s clash with West Coast.
“Wayne’s progressed really nicely in the final stages on his rehab - he’s done a lot of strength work in his shoulder and over ground training,” Crows General Manager of High Performance Matt Hass said.
“He’ll train with the main group on Thursday and be assessed for this weekend.”
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Matt Crouch will also make his case in Thursday’s main session after falling short of overcoming a hip contusion late last week.
“Last week, Matt didn’t progress at the rate we expected but pleasingly has commenced running and is progressing really nicely now,” Hass said.
“There’s a few more boxes to tick between now and the weekend but we expect him to complete main training on Thursday.”
Following his serious collision with fellow defender Alex Keath on the weekend, Kyle Hartigan will undergo concussion protocol ahead of Saturday’s game.
“Kyle’s collision with Keath resulted in a laceration to the head,” Hass said.
“Once the medical team had dealt with the triage associated with the laceration we were able to proceed to completion of concussion testing. At this time it became clear Kyle could not return to play.
“He’s improved and will go through the protocol but everything's looking really positive at the moment.”
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Hass confirmed Keath would be available to play after the hip contusion he sustained in the collision with Hartigan improved significantly as the game went on.
Defender Brodie Smith will also be available after fully recovering from a minor knee hyperextension he experienced in Saturday’s match.
Injury list as of Tuesday, May 21
M Crouch (Hip Contusion) – Test
Hartigan (Concussion) – Test
Milera (AC Joint) – Test
Jacobs (Knee) – 1 week
Doedee (ACL) – Season
