Carlton expects the AFL to formally tick off on its handling of Harry McKay’s head knock against North Melbourne on Sunday after responding to the league’s “please explain” letter. Blues coach Michael Voss said the AFL was “comfortable” with how McKay was treated after he remained on the field for several minutes after he appeared visibly dazed following a head clash with the Kangaroos’ Eddie Ford. McKay kicked a goal during the interval before he left the field to undergo a concussion test but was cleared to return to the game and has been declared a certain starter against Port Adelaide on Friday night.
Although McKay will be fit to face the Power, the Blues will lose wingman Blake Acres and injured ruckman Tom De Koning. Scans cleared Acres of any structural damage after he was subbed out of the Roos clash with a foot injury, but Voss said he would not be risked off a five-day break. Carlton, Adelaide and Brisbane were issued notices by the AFL to explain their management of head knocks to players on the weekend, but the Blues coach was confident his club had no case to answer.
He said he would support a push from the AFL Doctors’ Association to stop play after head knocks and make it mandatory for players to be assessed off the field. “We have (responded to the AFL), we’ve certainly been asked to put a series of events together in the way that we saw it,” Voss said on Thursday. “We’ve been able to do that, and (the AFL is) comfortable with where that lies, so we’ll move on.
“There’s obviously how it’s assessed upstairs, the information that’s flowing downstairs, then how we assess it, how we get the players off. There is a lag sometimes between (those steps), so we’re forever asking that question, how do we make that better? “Because as you can appreciate, our main priority is the health of the player – in any circumstance, that’s the priority over everything.” Voss said De Koning, whose home-and-away season is over after suffering a collapsed lung and broken foot in the win over the Roos, was recovering well in hospital and would be released “in the next day or two”.
He backed Marc Pittonet to take back the No.1 ruck mantle after spending a large portion of this season in the VFL. “Fairly safe to say that I can confirm that selection .
.. (Pittonet) has been in very, very good form, so having the luxury of being able to have two very competent ruckman is something that’s been a strength of ours this year.
Pitto’s turn, so he’ll step up for us,” Voss said. The Blues hope Acres will only miss one week with his foot issue, but Voss said Acres had been unable to train to the level required to face Port Adelaide. “He won’t play.
We tried to get him going (on Wednesday) and he’s a bit slower than what we would like, so just based on that five-day turnaround it’s probably worth him not playing, so someone will have to step up into that role,” the coach said. The five-day break is one of only two handed to clubs in the post-bye period, but Voss said he had no complaints as the Blues looked to repeat their round-12 win over the Power off the short break. “Yeah, it is (uncommon) towards the back end of the year, but it’s also an opportunity for us to be able to play a Friday night game,” he said.
“We understand the draw doesn’t always line up exactly how you want it, but what we do look forward to is playing in really big games, playing on Friday night in front of our fans.”.
