Injured Eagles trio to play in AFL final
West Coast are set to be at full strength for Saturday's AFL preliminary final against Geelong at the MCG after Josh Kennedy, Mark LeCras and Eric Mackenzie all received good news about their injuries.
Scans cleared Kennedy of a fractured eye socket following his nasty head clash with Carlton's Lachie Henderson, while Mackenzie (foot) and LeCras (ankle/knee) were also given the green light to play.
Mackenzie was spotted wearing a moon boot on his right foot on Sunday, but Eagles midfielder Andrew Embley said that was nothing out of the ordinary.
"He actually had a moon boot on all last week as well, so that's just precautionary and he'll be fine to play," Embley said on Monday.
LeCras was left nursing a sore right knee and an even sorer ankle after his leg twisted awkwardly during a tackle in Saturday night's three-point semi-final win over the Blues.
But some heavy icing on the two areas has done the trick, with LeCras declaring himself a certain starter against the Cats.
"I just got a bit of a twist in that ankle and I think the ankle and the knee took a bit of the load," LeCras said.
"I pulled up sore yesterday but it's feeling really good today, so I'll be fine.
"I train Wednesday and it should be perfect."
Although Kennedy was cleared of any fractures, the key forward has been left with a black eye and some noticeable swelling.
"It's swollen up pretty good but he assures me he's going to play. That's great for us," Embley said.
And midfielder Matt Rosa could thrust himself into the selection mix despite missing the past six games with a knee injury.
"He's been doing a lot of running work and his touch was really good," Eagles veteran Adam Selwood said.
"He's been out for five or six weeks but he's been around a situation in ... '05 when we had a lot of injuries (in the finals) and players went out.
"Kasey Green (got recalled for the grand final) and Travis Gaspar (got recalled for the preliminary final) and I think Damien Adkins nearly got a grand final berth after not playing a month of footy.
"So Rosa understands that, and even if there aren't any injuries, he could very well come into the side this week."
LeCras, who booted 63 goals last season to earn a maiden All-Australian berth, will notch his 100th game when he lines up against Geelong.
But the 25-year-old feared his 2011 campaign would be over after just one game when he suffered what initially appeared to be a serious groin injury in the season opener.
"It definitely went through my mind (that it was a season-ending injury)," said LeCras, who only ended up missing three games.
"It was pretty painful at the time. I just felt something snap. I wasn't sure what it was, it felt like I'd been shot."
Post a comment about this article
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.