CO-CAPTAIN Jack Viney (plantar fascia) and ball-winner Dom Tyson (knee), plus tall Jack Watts and half-back Christian Salem, who have had hamstring injuries, could all return for Saturday’s clash against Port Adelaide at the MCG
The quartet will face fitness tests this week, but elite performance manager Dave Misson said they were all chances to play.
“Those four guys have been tracking really well,” he told Melbourne TV.
“Jack Viney has had quite a quick ramp-up. He did his first run on the AlterG [Anti-Gravity Treadmill] on Saturday and then had another run outside today (Tuesday).
“He’s got a fair bit to tick off on Thursday before he gets cleared to play, but he’s probably overachieved from a rehab point of view, thus far. Knowing the person that he is, you wouldn’t put it beyond the realms of possibility.
“But the other three guys (Tyson, Watts and Salem) have all been doing some great stuff in rehab and did a really good session in Melbourne, here [at AAMI Park] on Saturday and again today.
“So, essentially those guys just need to get through training on Thursday and they should be available.”
But it remains to be seen how long left-footer Dean Kent will be sidelined, after he injured his shoulder against Adelaide Crows at TIO Stadium on Saturday night.
"He'll see a surgeon tomorrow and will need surgery at some stage,” Misson said.
"What we're trying to do is manage Dean conservatively so that we can try to get him back to play at some point this year.
"We probably won't know for a couple of weeks the timeframes around that, so we'll just see in a fortnight's time.
"We'll either push him further towards playing with some strength work or we may bite the bullet and have surgery. But it will be another fortnight until we know that.”
In better news, midfielder Angus Brayshaw is set to play just his second game of football since late April, due to two separate concussion incidents,
“Gus has been training for three or four weeks now, where he has been training with the group and had full contact,” Misson said.
“He’s really confident and importantly he’s very keen to get out there and play again. He’s really excited, as are we to get a quality player back, so he’ll be playing down at Casey on Saturday night against the Bombers.”
Co-skipper Nathan Jones (quadriceps) is now just one to two weeks away from resuming.
“Nathan, with Angus, came up to Darwin on the weekend with us and did a really good session at TIO [Stadium] on Saturday morning,” Misson said.
“The mechanism of his injury was kicking, with that quad, so he’s got a fair bit to tick off in the next couple of weeks to get him back to play.
“He’s on the road to returning to play, so there is just a bit more kicking for Nathan over the next week or so.”
Rookie Lochie Filipovic is also edging closer to a return.
“Lochie’s going well in rehab and we’re hoping to get him up to play again in a couple of weeks,” Misson said.
But first-year Demon Pat McKenna will now miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.
“Paddy had a minor setback about 10 days ago with his hamstring, so we’re really looking to put him into a heavy strength phase with that hamstring, and get him right for the off-season and pre-season, just to set him up for next year,” Misson said.
Hard-nut Aaron vandenBerg (heel), defender Colin Garland (knee) and forward Tim Smith (navicular bone) continue to make progress – albeit at varying stages – in their recovery from season-ending injuries.
“They’re all going well,” Misson said.
“Garlo is outside doing some fast run-throughs and going really well. He’s not too far from starting some footy stuff.
“Vanders is getting some calf strength and endurance in his legs and doing a lot of walking and ‘Bull’ Smith is still in a moonboot, but doing some good work in the gym.”
Melbourne injury list: round 18
Angus Brayshaw (concussion) – available
Lochie Filipovic (hip flexor) – 1-2 weeks
Colin Garland (knee) – season
Nathan Jones (quadriceps) – 1-2 weeks
Dean Kent (shoulder) – indefinite
Pat McKenna (hamstring) – season
Christian Salem (hamstring) – test
Tim Smith (navicular bone) – season
Dom Tyson (knee) – test
Aaron vandenBerg (heel) – season
Jack Viney (plantar fascia) – test
Jack Watts (hamstring) – test
