Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge will give Marcus Bontempelli “right up until the death” to prove his fitness for the important clash with Sydney on Thursday.
Positively, Sam Darcy is in good spirits after his season-ending ACL injury and Tom Liberatore has escaped further review after another concussion.
But the Bulldogs are racing the clock to have their superstar captain and versatile big man Rory Lobb fit for the Swans.
Bontempelli (knee) was moving better than Lobb (hamstring) during run-throughs on Tuesday morning, but the Doggies won’t risk the star midfielder if he remains sore.
“We’ll give him right up until the death, we’ve had two six-day turnarounds,” Beveridge said of Bontempelli.
“There’s a couple of boys who are sore and ultimately they’ll play if there is no risk that they’ll injure what they’re sore with anymore.
“But if there’s any concern they’ll be impeded or in discomfort that might turn into an injury, they won’t play. We won’t take any risk.”
The absence of Lobb would stretch the Bulldogs defence against the dynamic Swans forward line.
“He’s one of those players I speak of that is a little bit sore, so we’ll give him the time to see if he can come up,” Beveridge said.
“He got a knock but he looks like he’s moving. There’s a couple of days to go and we don’t need to name a team until tomorrow.
“He’ll go to the line I think, and the good thing this week is that Footscray play on Friday, so we can take all three emergencies to the game on Thursday night.
“We don’t plan on having late changes, we never do that. But different times call for different approaches and this is one of those weeks.”
Darcy, meanwhile, was at Whitten Oval on Tuesday after scans confirmed a ruptured ACL.
Beveridge says the Darcy setback opens the door of opportunity for others.
“We’ve delayed the surgery by a day or two just to let the swelling go down a bit, but he’s in a good frame of mind,” he said.
“He’s a great character, as you know, so he’ll come back and be a player that will continue to improve and grow.
“We’re going to miss him for a little while, but we’ve got to deal with that and others need to step up.”
Liberatore is in concussion protocols after sustaining his fifth head knock in four seasons.
The hard-nosed midfielder has pulled up well, but the Bulldogs are open to sidelining him longer.
“He’s come out of the game pretty good, he’s feeling well, he’s sleeping and he hasn’t got any headaches or anything like that, which is good signs,” Beveridge said.
“He hasn’t been to a concussion panel … my understanding is he will go through the usual protocols and whether that means he’s available for the Fremantle game or not I am not sure.
“We’re pretty conservative looking after our players who have had a head knock or two. Laitham Vandermeer came back and played against Geelong for Footscray.
“But we kept him out for a month to make sure he was OK, so if there’s any sign that Tom needs a bit longer, I am sure our medical crew won’t let him play.
“He seems to be OK, but he hasn’t been to any panel.”
The Bulldogs could have an important inclusion against the flow of concerns, with Adam Treloar poised to return to the senior side.
Treloar collected 41 disposals in the VFL last week and just needs to navigate the final two training sessions to be selected.
“Adam played really well; he’s had a sputtering last couple of months, but he definitely played well,” Beveridge said.
“If he’s OK, he’ll play. If he gets through training he will play, but because of the recent preparation and how that’s gone for him, I can’t emphatically say he’s going to be right at the end of this session.”
Originally published as AFL 2026: Western Bulldogs in race against clock to have two star players available