Written by Megan Taylor, sports reporter covering international sports since 2020
Hayden Young injury concerns have left Fremantle unlikely to regain their star midfielder for Thursday night’s top-two AFL clash with Sydney Swans.
Young hurt his groin in the ladder-leading Dockers’ shock loss to Greater Western Sydney Giants on Saturday, with coach Justin Longmuir admitting the five-day break makes his recovery difficult.
The selection blow comes during another heated AFL week, after the umpire contact debate reignited following the Gold Coast Suns and Collingwood Magpies clash.
Young In Doubt For Swans Test
Young has played only nine games this season and finished the Greater Western Sydney Giants match on the bench.
Longmuir said the injury was not expected to keep him out for long, but the short turnaround has complicated the call.
"He'd be a chance to get up if it wasn't a five-day break," Longmuir said on Tuesday.
"A five-day break is going to make it pretty tight for him.
"We'll see how he feels today, but yes, I don't think this is going to be a massive setback."
Midfield Battle Looms Large
If Young misses, Fremantle will need to handle a Sydney Swans midfield led by Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Errol Gulden and Brodie Grundy.
Heeney had 27 disposals, eight clearances and a goal against Western Bulldogs, while Grundy dominated the ruck with 60 hitouts.
"Yeah, we have to work that out later," Longmuir said when asked about Sydney’s engine room.
"You can't lock down on everyone. You've got to trust your players that you've got out there, and you trust your system as well.
"It's balanced between stopping individuals and trying to stop a system, so we'll strike that balance."
Longmuir will also coach against Dean Cox after working with the Sydney coach in Western Australia’s State of Origin setup.
"He doesn't mind moving the magnets, looking at the way that they've played this year.
"He's tried different things across the course of the season, probably expect the same this week."
Official AFL updates are available through the AFL.
