A TRIO of key Blues will face fitness tests this week ahead of Carlton’s final interstate match of the 2018 season.
Matthew Kreuzer (heart), Jacob Weitering (quad) and Jack Silvagni (ankle) will be required to clear training before being declared available for the Blues’ clash with Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Sunday.
“Matthew has been out for a couple of weeks with that heart issue. He’s been tracking really well over the past week or so and he’ll be a test at the end of the week to see whether he comes up or not,” Head of Football Andrew McKay said on Tuesday.
“Jacob is still dealing with that corked thigh. He obviously missed last week’s game so he’ll be a test at the end of the week to see if he comes up.
“Jack hurt his ankle at training last week, and didn’t quite get up for the game against GWS. We gave him every opportunity to do so, but he’ll be a test at the end of this week.”
As he continues to push for senior selection before the season’s end, youngster Tom De Koning will face testing this week after suffering an injury to his lower leg in the Northern Blues’ loss to Casey on Saturday.
“Tom had his leg run into in the VFL game on the weekend. He was removed from the ground straight away and scans have since revealed there was no structural damage which is fantastic. He’ll be a test at the end of this week,” McKay said.
Both Jesse Glass-McCasker (knee) and Cillian McDaid (foot) are likely to return to the VFL side this weekend.
“Cillian has been out for quite some time with that hotspot on his foot. He’s been training really well over the last week or so, so he will be a test later this week,” McKay said.
“Jesse Glass-McCasker has been out for a number of weeks with that medial ligament sprain. He’s been training really well lately so he’ll be a test at the end of the week, but we expect him to play.
Meanwhile, Kym Lebois will be touch-and-go to return to the Northern Blues’ line-up before the conclusion of the season as he manages a hamstring injury.
“Kym strained his hamstring a couple of weeks ago. He’s still about three weeks away, so it will be a race against time for him to see whether he can get back before the end of the season.”
The Blues head west to face Fremantle for their final interstate game of 2018, with the ball bouncing at 2:40pm (local time) on Sunday.
Injury list pre-Round 21:
Jack Silvagni – Ankle – Test
Tom De Koning – Leg – Test
Jacob Weitering – Quad – Test
Matthew Kreuzer – Heart – Test
Cillian McDaid – Foot – Test
Jesse Glass-McCasker – Knee – Test
Kym Lebois – Hamstring – 3 Weeks
David Cuningham - Hamstring - Season
Andrew Phillips - Hamstring - Season
Lachie Plowman - Knee - Season
Zac Fisher - Leg - Season
Liam Jones - Knee - Season
Alex Silvagni - Achilles - Season
Tom Williamson - Back - Season
Sam Docherty - Knee - Season
