D-DAY FOR DONS STARS
IT is D-Day for Essendon stars Michael Hurley and Orazio Fantasia, who today need to pass fitness tests if they are to play in Saturday’s final against Sydney at the SCG.
Hurley (calf) and Fantasia (hamstring) will be put through myriad tests at training, while Cale Hooker (leg stress injury) is expected to be given a little longer to prove he is right to play.
Essendon coach John Worsfold said the week’s break had been crucial to the trio’s chances of playing.
“Hurley would have pushed up pretty hard to try to make himself available, the other two wouldn’t have been,” Worsfold said of the bye.
“It’s given those guys more opportunity to be available.”
Hurley and Fantasia will be asked to perform at match speed today, three days out from the game.
“They need to hit top speed, tick off the boxes that we’d like to see from them, then we’ll be able to make the call,” Worsfold said.
“Hooker’s probably a little bit different because his injury is a bit different, so exactly what he’ll do tomorrow, I’ll be guided by the high performance staff. He may be later in the week. My expectation at the moment is all three will be right to go. If one of them breaks down at training, we won’t name them, we’re not going to hide that.
“If ‘Hurls’ can’t tick the boxes, or he gets sore going flat out, he’s not going to be fit, we won’t name him.”
Fantasia has not played since Round 20, but Worsfold had no issue with him returning for a cutthroat final.
“That’s something we’ll weigh up — what we believe he can bring having not played for a few weeks versus what it looks like without him in the team,” he said.
Essendon took it right up to Sydney in Round 14, losing by a single point at the SCG.
Captain Dyson Heppell said it gave his side confidence. And he said the side wanted to prove itself on the big stage.
“I probably had my expectations in check coming into the season,” Heppell said.
“I probably thought to make finals would be quite a successful year, but I look at it now and go, well, I wouldn’t see it as a success if we can’t push and build a really strong finals campaign.”