LEVI TO HAVE JAB BEFORE DRAFT
LEVI Casboult is expected to be vaccinated by next Friday’s rookie draft, which would allow Gold Coast to secure him in a move that would extend his 154-game career at Carlton.
Casboult wanted to delay his first injection until the Novavax vaccine arrived. However it is not yet TGAapproved and the Suns are unwilling to use a list spot on a player who is not guaranteed to play next year, given the league’s vaccine mandate.
But Casboult’s camp has indicated he is leaning towards having his first injection by next week.
It would pave the way for Gold Coast to secure him in the rookie draft and add critical key position cover for a young side that has brought in free agent Mabior Chol but is still thin for key position stocks.
The Casboult family is believed to have done research into vaccine safety after a reaction to a vaccine in their family in recent years.
They believe the proteinbased Novavax vaccine would be the safest, but given it does not have approval Casboult would need to take another kind of vaccine.
The Suns are keen to ensure they do not fall short at either end or in the ruck if they have another spate of injuries, after Jarrod Witts went down early last season.
Casboult has shown he is equally proficient as a ruckman or key defender, so would be likely to play next year if his body holds up.
All of the 55 Victorian draft aspirants who attended an AFL training session on Monday were vaccinated, with clubs not expecting any high selections to have vaccine hesitancy.
The AFL and clubs do not foresee any issues with those young players, who will all have to be double vaccinated to play in round 1 next year.