Manic Mundy Freo’s winner
Lions set to lose Rockliff but Beams looming
THE likely loss of midfielder Tom Rockliff could be offset by the possible return of Lions captain Dayne Beams as Brisbane prepare for an angry Adelaide at the Gabba on Saturday night.
Rockliff left the field in considerable pain late in the fourth quarter of the Lions’ 38-point loss to Hawthorn in Launces- ton on Saturday after dislocating his left shoulder.
He had his left arm in a sling on the flight back to Brisbane and will have scans today or tomorrow to assess the extent of the damage to the shoulder that was heavily strapped for the clash with the Hawks.
Lions general manager of football David Noble said it was a positive that the shoulder went straight back into the joint after Rockliff reeled out of a contest and clutched at his arm and was escorted from the field by Brisbane medical staff.
“It’s unlikely he’ll play against Adelaide but you never know with Tom,’’ Noble said.
“We’ll let it settle for 24 hours or so, so we get a clearer picture from the scans but it was a relatively normal dislocation.”
Noble said Brisbane would FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon took marginally more positives than negatives away from a narrow escape in his team’s thrilling two-point win over Richmond yesterday that kept the Dockers knocking on the door of the top eight.
Lyon played a straight bat in the aftermath to questions about troubled star Harley Bennell, whose off-field behaviour is the subject of a club investigation, and raised concerns over the AFL’s video review system after Brady Grey was denied what he felt was a clear goal.
But the coach reserved praise for veteran David Mundy, whose his calm set shot after the siren delivered the Dockers a 10.12 (72) to 10.10 (70) triumph at the MCG.
Conceding there was nothing he could do with 21 seconds left, Lyon missed the final play.
He left the coaches box to head down to the change room and watched Mundy’s kick on a television screen deep in the bowels of the stadium.
“I thought, ‘he’s done this before, David, he’ll probably do it again’,” Lyon said.
“To handle that sort of pressure – he’s been wonderful this year in a new role forward and midfield.”
Lyon said he had concern for all his players and reserved judgment on Bennell, whose unusual conduct at Peel Thunder’s match on Saturday sparked the club investigation.
It will be stepped up today, with key club officials, including Lyon, having returned from Melbourne.
Bennell is sidelined with another not rush Beams back just to fill the void in experience left by the injuries to Rockliff, Mitch Robinson (foot) and Allen Christensen (collarbone).
The Crows will be a team on a mission this weekend after dropping their second straight match on Saturday when they lost to Melbourne.
Adelaide won their first six matches of the season but back-to-back defeats at the hands of North Melbourne and the Demons will have them primed.
Brisbane have a habit of running into teams with a point to prove after facing surprise cellar dwellers Sydney and Hawthorn in the past fortnight.
Regardless of Rockliff’s injury, Beams was tracking for a return against the Crows after missing the past two weeks with a quad injury.
FREMANTLE
RICHMOND
72 70
D Mundy 2 M Taberner 2 S Kersten 2 B Hill C McCarthy D Pearce N Fyfe J Riewoldt 3 J Caddy 2 B Ellis D Martin D Rioli J Castagna T Cotchin calf injury and is yet to play a game for Fremantle since arriving from Gold Coast in a trade at the end of 2015.
“He’s had an incredibly rough run, but what I’d like to do … I’m not here to defend, I’m not here to castigate, I’m here to say I haven’t got all the information,” Lyon said.
“I understand there’s some noise out there but we need to get facts and gather ourselves and come together.
“Our fundamental model and mine in particular is support and challenge.
“So always support the person and challenge the behaviour.”
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says team changes are coming after his side slipped to a third straight loss in which they lacked intensity for most of the day.