Injuries have weakened the Port Adelaide and Western Bulldogs backlines ahead of their Thursday night AFL clash.
Bulldogs ironman Dale Morris is out because of knee surgery, meaning fresh speculation about the 35-year-old’s football future.
In-form Power defender Tom Jonas will also miss the Adelaide Oval clash because of a hamstring injury, despite playing out last Friday night’s big home win over Richmond.
Morris made a stunning AFL comeback at the start of the month, after partially tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the pre-season.
But the premiership defender, one of the AFL’s toughest players, needed an arthroscopy on the same knee.
While the Bulldogs insist this is separate to his ACL injury and also say the operation is a minor procedure, they are unsure how long he will be sidelined.
Power coach Ken Hinkley said on Tuesday night that they would probably lose Jonas for the Bulldogs clash.
Hinkley suspects Jonas suffered the injury in the opening quarter of the Tigers match.
“We’re clearly going to have an issue with Jonas,” Hinkley told Sportsday SA.
“Jonas is probably going to struggle to come up, we’ll confirm that in the morning once we get through it, but he’s got a little nick in his hammy.
“He’ll be out, probably.”
Jack Hombsch will probably take Jonas’ place.
Meanwhile, Bulldogs forward Liam Picken has gone on Twitter to discuss his ongoing concussion problems.
Picken has not played since suffered a heavy head knock during the pre-season.
The premiership player remains unsure when he will return to the AFL.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said in April that there is a chance Picken might not play this season.
“Some of the symptoms that have impacted me have been light and noise sensitivity, noise ringing in my ears, vision, headaches, migraines, mental wellness, memory function and impaired balance,” Picken said of his post-concussion syndrome.
“Some of these I still have and others I’ve fully recovered from. I’m hoping it’s any day now.
“But one of the hardest aspects of post-concussion syndrome is not knowing when you’ll get better.”