Charlie Curnow out for Carlton, Tim English in for Bulldogs in bumper final AFL round match-ups

CARLTON

Carlton will have to beat St Kilda without Charlie Curnow in order to seal an AFL finals spot after the gun forward failed to overcome an ankle injury.

Curnow had been named on Thursday to returnfor Sunday’s gameat Marvel Stadium, but was officially ruled out on Friday.

It’s a hammer blow to Carlton’s hopes of locking in their top-eight berth, while Mitch McGovern (hamstring) also appears unlikely to get up.

If Carlton lose to the in-form Saints, it will give Fremantle a chance to leapfrog them.

“I’ll start with the bad news, Charlie’s not playing. So that’s the not-so-great news,” coach Michael Voss said.

“We sort of thought that he might be able to pull up pretty well from some of the things that he did the other day, but hasn’t pulled up as well as what we expected,” coach Michael Voss said.

“So we’ll just make that call now and obviously it gives us an opportunity to be able to lock in on what our forward mix is going to be. So obviously banking in that we can get the job done a couple of times in a row.”

Harry McKay (quad), Jack Martin (hamstring), Adam Saad (hamstring), Lachie Fogarty (collarbone), Jordan Boyd (adductor), Tom De Koning (foot/lung), Adam Cerra (hamstring) and Matt Cottrell (shoulder) are also sidelined.

SYDNEY

Veteran Luke Parker says the Swans are addressing their slow starts after recovering from a late-season slip to secure the minor premiership.

After losing premiership favouritism when Port Adelaide smashed them by 112 points — their biggest loss in 31 years — the Swans have won their past two games to ensure they finish on top of the ladder for the first time since 2016.

“It’s nice to get some confidence leading into finals,” Parker told AAP.

“When you’re at the top, teams really set themselves for a contested, high pressure game,” Parker said.

“We just need to get our basics right early and play with our system and our game plan,” Parker said.

Sydney defender Tom McCartin has been rested, with Aaron Francis returning in his place. Adelaide are dealing with the fallout of dropping highly talented youngster Josh Rachele for is on and off field antics.

HAWTHORN

The last time Hawthorn played finals, James Worpel was 19, Alastair Clarkson was coach and Sam Mitchell was helping mastermind West Coast’s 2018 premiership run.

Six years on, Clarkson’s Kangaroos are all that is standing between now-Hawks coach Mitchell and midfield general Worpel from locking in a top-eight berth.

There has been drama before the bounce with the game in Launceston on Saturday moved forward four hours due to industrial action by electrical workers. — and potentially creating a very special season.

It’s really good. I’ve been here seven years now and my first year played a couple finals, but I probably didn’t appreciate it,” Worpel told AAP ahead of Saturday’s match at University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston.

“So hopefully this year we can start winning and win some finals and see what we can do.

“The excitement, our running profile, our athletic profile has got to be a strength of ours.

“We still have some experience, we have some premiership players. We just have to play our way and hopefully it stacks up.”

With Will Day (dislocated collarbone) out, it will be on Worpel — who had 29 disposals and kicked two goals against Richmond — and Jai Newcombe to lead the midfield.

“He’s one of our best players, so we’ll miss him, but we just have to have another soldier stand up,” Worpel, 25, said.

PORT ADELAIDE

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said he will turn to Ryan Burton and Josh Sinn to replace Dan Houston in his rebounding half-back role against Fremantle. Houston, who lost his appeal against a five-match ban for a hit on Crow Izak Rankine, won’t play again this year.

But he will stay with the Power next year despite interest from rival Melbourne clubs.Houston has copped a season-ending five-game suspension for a bump that knocked out Adelaide’s Izak Rankine in last Saturday night’s clash of the SA rivals. Houston’s ban rules him out of Port’s looming finals campaign and comes amid interest from rival clubs in Melbourne in luring the All Australian halfback.

“He has got a three-year contract with our footy club, loves our footy club,” Hinkley told reporters on Friday.

“I’m really comfortable that Dan will play more games for Port,” Hinkley said.

GWS

Adam Kingsley insists the Giants aren’t over-reliant on Jesse Hogan as the goal-kicking ace closes in on a maiden Coleman Medal and the Giants take on Western Bulldogs in the match of the round.

A six-goal haul from Hogan against his former club Fremantle helped the flag-chasing Giants post a nine-point win last time out.

The former Docker now leads the goalkicking table with 67 majors and has all but secured the Coleman Medal with rival Charlie Curnow, who has 57, ruled out with injury.

Hogan far outnumbers the hauls of his teammates with skipper Toby Greene second with 39 goals, followed by Jake Riccardi (26) and Aaron Cadman (24).

But the discrepancy doesn’t concern Giants coach Kingsley, who says there are capable goalkickers everywhere in their line-up. It’s just that Hogan keeps winning the ball.

Known for his prowess in the air, the 29-year-old also leads the league with 54 contested marks. “Arguably, every time we kick him ball, he wins it so we’re not going to stop kicking him the ball just to not be as reliant on him,” Kingsley saidon Friday.

GEELONG

Geelong are on edge and feeling the pressure ahead of their date with destiny and coach Chris Scott wouldn’t want it any other way.

The Cats will guarantee a top-four berth and a double-finals chance with victory over hapless West Coast at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.

The struggling Eagles will field one of their least experienced teams of the year but Geelong coach Chris Scott is not taking anything for granted. after Tom Barrass (back), Jeremy McGovern (thumb), Andrew Gaff (retired), Liam Ryan (personal reasons) and Alex Witherden (back) were all ruled out.

It means Geelong enter the match as the hottest of favourites and with all the pressure on them, especially given the game will double as a home farewell to retiring veteran Zach Tuohy.

The match also marks the 100-game milestone for Zach Guthrie, and Rhys Stanley’s 150th for the Cats following his 58 appearances for St Kilda.

With the stakes so high and so many things to celebrate, a loss to West Coast is simply unfathomable.

“It’s a pressure we should embrace,” Scott told reporters on Friday.

“The carrot for us is obvious in terms of what the game means. I think it’s a mistake to shy away from the things that are at stake,” he said.

BRISBANE

Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan has jumped to the defence of his divisive forward as episode 200 of the Joe Daniher show prepares to screen at the Gabba.

In a neat coincidence, former Essendon star Daniher will reach the milestone against his old club when the Bombers out of the AFL’s top-eight race, complete their season in Brisbane on Saturday.

The Lions can statistically finish as high as fourth and even drop out of the eight depending on other results.

But last year’s beaten grand finalists will realistically finish fifth with a win and as low as eighth if they lose a third-straight game.

Defeats to GWS and Collingwood in consecutive weeks, both from dominant positions, followed a nine-game winning streak and all but scuppered hopes of a top-four finish.

It would have been a remarkable effort from a team Fagan acknowledges most had “written off” when injured, out of form and sitting 13th after 11 rounds.

Daniher, with 49 goals and 42 behinds in his fourth season at Brisbane and 12th overall, has been in the thick of all of it.

“He divides opinions, I suppose, Joey,” Fagan said of the milestone man.

“But he’s got a good heart and always puts the team first.”

Daniher missed a set shot in the fourth quarter of the side’s one-point loss to the Magpies while his decisions entering the forward 50 are regularly scrutinised.

“When he makes some of those mistakes that everybody makes comment on it’s coming from a good place,” Fagan said.

“He’s just trying to help the team and sometimes he gets it wrong,” Fagan said.

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Tim English was expected to miss another week with an ankle injury, but was named on Thursday in the starting side of the Bulldogs’ extended squad for Sunday’s meeting with GWS.

The Bulldogs need to beat GWS to be guaranteed of playing in the finals, but could finish as high as fourth if Geelong and the Brisbane Lions suffered monumental upsets.

If Hawthorn, Carlton and Fremantle all win and the Bulldogs fall to GWS, they would slip out of the top eight.