Charlie Curnow will not face St Kilda on Sunday while Mitch McGovern is in serious doubt in what could be a hammer blow to Carlton’s finals hopes.
Blues coach Michael Voss said Curnow would not play after failing to make enough progress from the ankle injury which he aggravated against Hawthorn in round 22.
While Adam Saad will return from the hamstring injury he sustained against the Hawks, Mitch McGovern was absent from Carlton’s main training session on Friday as Voss said he was on a modified program.
The coach would not rule out a miracle finals comeback for Sam Docherty as the former captain pushes hard to return from the ACL tear he suffered in pre-season training.
Docherty joined in main training with his shoulder strapped to receive contact, but an absent Curnow meant Carlton would again rely on Brodie Kemp to provide a tall target against the Saints.
“We thought that (Curnow) might be able to pull up pretty well from some of the things he did the other day, but he hasn’t pulled up as well as we expected,” Voss said.
“I think after he kicked four, I can confirm that (Kemp) will probably end up forward … he did a great job last week, (our forwards) were able to share the load throughout the entire game.”
McGovern’s hamstring tightness puts considerable doubt over whether the Blues would risk their important defender given his injury history.
Voss said he would be given “every opportunity” to prove his fitness for the Marvel Stadium clash.
“(McGovern) has got to get through a couple of things today. He won’t do as much as the others, obviously he played last week,” he said.
“He’s scheduled a little bit differently to everyone else.”
Harry McKay (quad), Adam Cerra and Jack Martin (hamstring injuries) ran laps at strong pace at Ikon Park as the trio pushed claims to return should the Blues reach the finals.
Voss said he could not give attention to finals selection until his side had taken care of this weekend’s result, but joked his ladder predictor had the Blues finishing in fourth with a double chance.
He said there were “so many variables” at the selection table with the senior players returning, which meant Docherty was no guarantee to play even if he was deemed ready.
“He’s progressing really well, he’s joining in the main training. You’ll probably see him running around out there again today,” Voss said.
“He knocks on my door every single day, and I tell him to go away until next week, and we’ll see where he goes from there.
“I’ve said ‘mate, when the knock on the door comes and you say you’re ready, we’ll look at it then’ … I’d love to be able to give him that opportunity if he’s ready, because it means we’ll be playing finals footy.”
Small forward Corey Durdin trained fully with the shoulder he dislocated against West Coast heavily strapped, and could keep his spot following an impressive performance as Voss weighs up whether to recall Orazio Fantasia.
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