Star St Joseph’s half-back Jack Buckley has been declared fit, and captain Alex Hickey has pushed his case to return from a lengthy layoff ahead of tomorrow’s (Saturday) GFNL preliminary final against South Barwon at West Oval.
A recurrence of a hamstring injury kept Buckley out of the second semi-final loss to Leopold, while Hickey has battled a syndesmosis injury since the Round 14 win over the Swans.
“At this stage, it looks like Jack will play,” coach Ron Watt said.
“‘We’re uncertain about Al at the minute; we’ve just got to see how he pulls up.
“He hasn’t played for a number of weeks, and he’s had quite a hard block of training leading into last night.
“We’re just going to check that he’s pulled up alright, but we’re not 100 per cent certain on him.”
Buckley’s drive from half-back was noticeably absent against the Lions.
“Especially in these conditions, where you need someone who can power away off half-back and carry the ball 20-30 metres for you and make good decisions for you,” Watt said.
“We’ll be very happy to have Jack back in the team.”
The news isn’t all good for Joeys, with former Geelong VFL defender Jack Leonard to miss the rest of the season with a calf injury, while veteran forward Cam Tudor’s wrist isn’t healing as hoped.
“He’s still a slight chance next week if we progress,” Watt said.
“His wrist hasn’t really responded that well to the healing process, and he hasn’t been able to make good use of it on the track in contested situations.
“He’s still a little way off, but not without a slight glimmer of hope.”
GFNL: AT SELECTION – PRELIMINARY FINAL
After surviving a scrap against Bell Park in the elimination final, A Fraser Fort-inspired South Barwon overcame St Mary’s in last week’s first semi.
The reigning joint Mathieson medalist finished with seven goals, including five in the second quarters, with Watt considering several options to curb Fort’s influence.
“It will be more dependent on where he lines up,” Watt said.
“It could be Benny Clark, or (Liam) Betson), or Joel (O’Dwyer), and maybe we might have a rotation through him, depending on a couple of things we’re doing with our team and other match-ups we may need.”
South Barwon has settled on two changes.
The experienced Jake Peters has earned a recall from the reserves to replace injured midfield gun Taylor Mulraney, while young defender Tom Peirce replaces emerging forward Max Mawson.
An ankle issue has kept Peirce sidelined since Round 16.
The Swans lost both contests to St Joseph’s during the home-and-away season, with a margin of 18 points on Anzac Day and 10 points in Round 14.
“Only one this year at the end of the game has had a higher score than them,” Neeld said.
“So, it’s something most of my counterparts have struggled with.
“They’re an exceptionally good footy team; very well-rounded, (and) have good players in all areas.”
Neeld confirmed South Barwon will again wear its B.J O’Toole-designed Indigenous jumper for the clash.
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