Two of three injured Bombers OK for Swans
Sep 6, 2017 - 4:46 AM Cale Hooker appears least likely of Essendon's injured trio to take on Sydney in Saturday's elimination final at the SCG after failing to train on Wednesday.Orazio Fantasia (hamstring) and Michael Hurley (calf) looked to have overcome their injury concerns and trained strongly with the main group but Hooker (calf) was a notable absentee.
The forward did some passing drills with a trainer and spent time on the sidelines talking to the team doctor without joining their match simulation.
Teammate Brendon Goddard said Hooker had done some non-weight bearing running inside and, given his value to the team, he would be given until the last minute to prove his fitness.
"We'd like to have him there and he's doing everything he can," Goddard said.
"He's running on the Alter-G (anti-gravity treadmill) machine so we'll get a gauge of how he pulls up from there."
Goddard backed Hooker to be prepared for the sudden death final even without training this week. However he warned against carrying an injured player.
"The games are more demanding now and teams are very good at exposing weak links and individuals in opposition teams," Goddard said.
Bookmakers are giving the Bombers little chance of knocking over the in-form Swans, who have won 14 of their past 16 games.
In their round 14 meeting at the SCG Essendon fell by one point after the final siren which Goddard said gave his team confidence.
The former Saint was a key figure in their final quarter collapse, playing on from a kick-in, only to have his clearing kick smothered out of bounds.
Sydney scored the match-winner from the ensuing stoppage.
Goddard dismissed the notion that the Bombers, regrouping this season with 10 players back from a year-long doping ban, were just making up the numbers in the finals.
"I don't buy into the theory of nothing to lose, because we do, it's an elimination final and we're here to win it," he said.
"At the start of the year we said it would be a good achievement to make finals but that was more external chat.
"We're pretty optimistic now - we're in the finals and we're as good a chance as anyone and we're here to make an impact."
Source: AAP
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