Adelaide’s injury list has whittled down to just one name ahead of their semi-final matchup with Hawthorn, who will be forced into at least one change for Friday’s clash.
Both sides are facing at least one change, with the Crows to be bolstered for their home final.
An ideal reinforcement will likely come into Sam Mitchell’s side, while a Hawk eyeing a return has since had his season come to an end.
Here’s all the latest injury news in week two of the 2025 AFL Finals.
Pies provide update on sidelined defender
Collingwood veteran Jeremy Howe is ” progressing well” from his adductor injury from over a fortnight ago.
Howe has been sidelined for the start of the Magpies’ September run, and will benefit from the club’s week off and preliminary final placing.
The club has given Howe a one-week return timeframe, meaning he’ll be in a race against the clock to be fit to play in the Magpies’ crucial final.
“Jeremy Howe is progressing well after he sustained an adductor injury in Round 24 against Melbourne,” a club update read.
“Howe will continue to build his loads and intensity throughout this week.”
Meanwhile, first-year forward Charlie West has been cleared to play if required after recovering from a foot injury sustained in the middle of the year.
Season over for Cats pair, latest on hamstrung ruckman
Geelong ruckman Rhys Stanley remains in the mix to play in the Cats’ preliminary final next week following a recent hamstring strain.
Stanley did not feature in the win over Brisbane due to the ailment, which will keep him sidelined for up to three weeks.
The premiership tall wouldn’t have been available if the Cats were to play this week, however he could be cleared ahead of their next game.
“Rhys missed Friday night’s game with a right hamstring injury. Rhys has progressed over the last couple of days and will begin to reintegrate into football-based drills next week,” Cats footy boss Andrew Mackie said in a club update.
“As Chris mentioned post-game, Rhys’ availability would be unlikely if we were playing this week, but with the benefit of the bye, we are optimistic on his return to play this finals series.”
Meanwhile, Geelong have been forced to rule out young ruckman Toby Conway (foot) and veteran defender Jake Klodjashnij (hip) for the rest of the season.
Conway has battled his injury for most of the year, limiting his development, while Kolodjashnij has also been hindered with his hip issue for an extended period.
“After extensive consultation with specialists and our medical team, Toby will undergo surgery this week on a mid-foot injury that he sustained in the Round 20 VFL game against Essendon,” Mackie said.
“Toby is a long-term player for us, and with this in mind, we expect his return to be in the early stages of 2026.
“Whilst Jake played the last two VFL home and away games, he has continued to present ongoing hip soreness in recent weeks.
“In order to optimise off season recovery time and address underlying causes, the decision was made to proceed with minor hip surgery, ruling him out for the rest of the season. Whilst unfortunate for Jake, we expect him to be ready to rejoin the group at the commencement of 2026 pre-season.
Crows confirm return of forward, latest on three others
Adelaide has confirmed Josh Rachele will be available to face the Hawks on Friday night following his recovery from a knee injury.
Rachele hasn’t played since Round 17 due to the ailment, and narrowly missed out on selection for last week’s final against Collingwood.
“Josh has passed every test we’ve given him and has done a hell of a lot of work in the past month,” Crows high-performance boss Darren Burgess said.
“He’s feeling great, he’s been knocking on all of our doors for the past two weeks, saying he’s ready.
“He’ll be available for selection assuming he gets through training.”
The Crows’ depth has also been boosted, with Lachie Shol (hamstring) and Oscar Ryan (hamstring) both now available.
“Oscar has completed everything we’ve asked of him,” Burgess said.
“He was touch-and-go to be available last week, but he’ll certainly be available for selection this weekend.
“(And) Lachie Sholl just had some minor hamstring awareness that caused him to miss the SANFL game on the weekend.
“He’ll be available this week if selected.”
The Crows’ injury list now only contains Irishman Karl Gallagher, whose season is over due to a hamstring injury.
Suns pair likely available
While the Suns are unlikely to change what worked for them on Saturday night, they will have more options to pick from as two fringe players looked to be cleared for selection.
Midfield pair Will Graham (hamstring) and Sam Clohesy (ankle) have both been listed as ‘probable’ for this week’s action.
Graham hasn’t played at AFL level since Round 9 due, managing just one VFL since due to multiple concerns.
Clohesy’s last game came in Round 19, with the flanker now nearing the end of his rehabilitation.
Gold Coast will also have uncapped defender Zak Evans available from a recent thumb issue as early as next week.
Hawk sidelined, wingman’s season over
Hawthorn have confirmed they’ll need to make at least one selection change for Friday night, with young tall Calsher Dear sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Dear was subbed out of Saturday’s win over GWS under tactical reasons; however, concerns surrounding an injury have since emerged.
The second-year forward underwent scans on Monday, which showed a low-moderate grade strain.
“Not the news we were hoping for, but he’s had an incident. He was running at speed and just noticed a tightening sensation. But we subbed him out during the third quarter, and we’ve since had a scan today, which has shown he’s got a low to moderate-grade hamstring injury, which we need to put him into a very short rehab phase,” Hawks high-performance manager Peter Burge said.
“He’ll miss the game this weekend, and we’ll need to reassess again for next week. He’s certainly not ruled out of the season, obviously depending on how deep we can continue to go, but he won’t be playing this week, and we’ll progress back into running this week.”
The Hawks have also revealed wingman Harry Morrison’s ongoing quad issue will now see him miss the rest of the season.
Morrison was initially a chance to play this week, but further complications have meant he’ll remain sidelined for the remainder of the 2025 campaign.
“Harry’s been working through rehab with his quad strain, and it’s been really stubborn and really slow, so we haven’t been able to make any significant progress,” Burge added.
“We felt we were slowly making progress. On the weekend, we were just trying to step it up a notch in terms of speed and kicking, and he had a little incident in the session, unfortunately, during the weekend, which means now that it’s put him out for the rest of the season, and really, it has just told us that we needed more time.”