PORT ADELAIDE is setting itself for a big test on Thursday night against Carlton, and assistant coach Tyson Goldsack says captain Connor Rozee is no certainty to line up.
Rozee rolled his ankle early in the win over North Melbourne on Saturday. It was the skipper’s return following two weeks out with a hamstring injury.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Goldsack said Rozee’s ankle had improved over the weekend and it would be given until Tuesday’s main training to see how it settles, before team selection is finalised.
The backline coach also discussed whether Willie Rioli will play, the challenge Carlton will pose, and the reasoning behind resting Charlie Dixon at the weekend.
Tyson Goldsack on how captain Connor Rozee is tracking after rolling his ankle against North Melbourne:
“We know he is sore. It was sorer yesterday than it is today. He's on the improve. It's not soft tissue, so you can kind of go a bit more on his pain threshold with it. But we'll wait to see. Let's just let it progress for next 24 hours and we'll have a better understanding.
“It's a typical ankle so kind of more painful than anything else. It’s nothing too sinister, so we’ll just let it let it recover, do all the care and like I said, we’ll get a better understanding tomorrow.
I've not really spoken to him too much but it would be frustrating. It'd be more frustrating if it was the same injury but it's not. I think he's professional enough to know that these things happen in football and mature enough to deal with it as they come.”
Tyson Goldsack on Willie Rioli’s prognosis following his substitution out of the game with a calf strain:
“Willie is unlikely to play but probably equally as frustrating or more so frustrating, but kind of the one where you'd be a bit more cautious about this one, because it is more soft tissue. And we've got a bye after the Carlton game so if you miss a week, you get one for free after that so we'll probably take that.”
Tyson Goldsack on whether Ivan Soldo will come into selection considerations following his return from a knee injury through the SANFL on Saturday:
“He played on the weekend and showed some good signs, and was relatively pain free, which is good. His comeback was kind of what we expected it to be. We've got some minutes and some km’s into his legs, and it's was a pretty tough game for the Maggies. He's putting his hand up to play whether it's AFL or SANFL again.
“He's recovered from his injury. So it's more about did he perform at the level that AFL required to and we'll make that decision.”
Tyson Goldsack on the test being posed by Carlton on Thursday night:
“It's a massive test, you get a big club that are looking to go places towards the back end of the year. And that's another big test for us. We've been pretty good in big tests for most of the season so we kind of want to not think about the bye too early. We want to get through this game first and perform really well and hopefully we get to the bye in a position that we're really happy with and that would mean a decent game and decent win this weekend.”
Tyson Goldsack on the dangers of players looking ahead to time off for the bye after Thursday night’s game:
“Sometimes you can cast your eyes too far forward and think, oh, just one more game and we get a rest, which is a well-earned rest, let's not mistake things. They've had a pretty tough 11 weeks up to this date so you just want to make sure you're doing everything right, especially the five-day turnaround going into Carlton. You just want to make sure that you're cherry ripe as well as you could be for this game and all eyes on this game. Then you earn your break after that.”
Tyson Goldsack on the depth in midfield this year:
“That's kind of what came out of the weekend was Zak got tagged and found that pretty tough early and we had other guys that could step up and support our midfield and then lead the charge. And then Zak came into the game later on, and it was really good for us that he was able to work through that and keep pushing on which is kind of a credit to his mentality about the way he plays his footy. The depth is really strong. We’ve got Jackson Mead who has been playing midfield minutes, and he's been really good for us and really consistent so the midfield is in a pretty good spot at the moment, but probably no bigger test than this weekend against Carlton.”
Tyson Goldsack on whether Charlie Dixon will return for Thursday night’s game after being rested at the weekend:
“He'll be looking to come back in. It was a good chance to freshen up an old body. We know we put him under a lot of stress with the amount of contests he puts himself in, week-in week-out so it was a good chance for us to rest him especially given the five-day break from North to Carlton. He'll be ready and raring to go.”
