DEFENDER James Frawley is likely to return for Saturday night’s clash against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG, but midfielder Jordie McKenzie must pass a fitness test.
Frawley has not played since round 10 against Hawthorn due to a hamstring injury, and McKenzie (elbow) missed last Saturday’s twilight loss against St Kilda at the MCG.
Elite performance manager Dave Misson said the duo would push their claims for selection later in the week.
“James has been training really well - he’ll train with the group tomorrow and we expect him to play,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“Jordie is touch and go a little bit with that elbow, but he’s done some work in rehab and if he trains well [on Wednesday], he’ll be OK.”
Co-captain Jack Grimes, who has been sidelined since round seven with a collarbone injury, will complete his first full contact session on Wednesday.
“He’ll just basically train with the group unrestricted,” Misson said.
“He’s on the long term [injury] list and needs to see out his eight weeks, which finishes the weekend we play the Swans.
“He’s going exceptionally well.”
Four Demons are out with toe injuries, including the emerging Michael Evans and ruckman Mark Jamar, who have stress related problems.
“Evo is probably a little bit closer than Mark,” Misson said.
“Michael will be three weeks and Mark’s probably a month, I’d say.”
Joel Macdonald, who had a weight dropped on his toe, will miss another week.
“He’s going pretty well. He’s running some good times in rehab,” Misson said.
“He’s still struggling a little bit with his agility. We’ll probably give him another week there, just so he can get over that and feel confident and comfortable doing that.”
Tough nut Jack Viney, also out with a toe injury, will be sidelined for another 2-3 matches.
“Jack’s going really well in rehab. He’s done a fair bit of running and we need to get a bit of footy specific conditioning into him, so he’s at least another couple [of weeks away],” Misson said.
Rookie Nathan Stark, who has battled knee and groin injuries this year, will now miss up to a month with an ankle problem suffered in the VFL last weekend.
“It’s actually a reasonably similar injury to what Dawesy (Chris Dawes) sustained in the Collingwood game [in round 12], so it’s a high ankle sprain,” Misson said.
“Starky’s rehabbed it pretty well in the first 72 hours and it’s starting to respond quite well, but he’s likely to miss three to four [matches].”
Key forward Mitch Clark remains sidelined indefinitely with a foot injury.
Round 14 Melbourne injury list
Mitch Clark (foot) – indefinite
Michael Evans (foot) – 3 weeks
James Frawley (hamstring) – test
Jack Grimes (collarbone) – 2 weeks
Mark Jamar (toe) – 4 weeks
Joel Macdonald (toe) – 1 week
Jordie McKenzie (elbow) – test
Nathan Stark (ankle) – 3-4 weeks
Jack Viney (toe) – 2-3 weeks
