Updated May 6, 2026 — 2:50pm,first published 11:24am
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In today’s AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli has another injury concern but has been declared fit to play against Port Adelaide on Friday night.Essendon coach Brad Scott has opened on the whiteboard saga, Nate Caddy’s contentious ‘mediocrity’ comments and taken a swipe at the AFL over its response to the Elijah Hollands case.The two injuries Bontempelli is carrying
Andrew Wu
Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli has another injury concern but has been declared fit to play against Port Adelaide on Friday night.
Dogs coach Luke Beveridge has revealed Bontempelli is also battling a heel problem on top of the knee issue that he has been carrying since the heavy defeat to Geelong three weeks ago.
Veteran Tom Liberatore will need a month to recover after undergoing knee surgery, but his future is still clouded while he remains under concussion protocols.
Bontempelli began training alongside ruckman Tim English in the Bulldogs’ rehab group and took only a limited part in the club’s main session on Wednesday, as forecast by Beveridge.
Walking wounded: Skipper Marcus Bontempelli has been prominent for the Dogs.Getty Images
“It’s pretty obvious to you he’s had a sore knee, but he’s had a bruised heel that he’s been dealing with,” Beveridge said.
“That’s the main thing I’ve been worried about. It’s the main reason he was limping a bit in the game just gone, but he’s been able to deal with that, manage it a little bit with our medicos, and he’s pretty confident he should be available.”
Bontempelli is one of the most durable players in the competition, missing only 12 games since his debut in 2014. Coming off four straight losses, the Dogs do not have the luxury of giving their superstar player a week off to rest.
“It’s a pretty high bar as far as the pain threshold for him with discomfort, and he wants to play,” Beveridge said.
“We’re not going to talk him out of doing that. He’d be the first to tell us. He’s missed a game here and there, as you know, and he missed the start of last year because he had to, but if he’s really compromised in anything, then he definitely won’t play, and we’re not at that point at the moment.”
English returned last round after missing three games with a knee injury. He spent the first part of training running on the boundary line but joined in later drills.
Veteran midfielder Adam Treloar, who missed the loss to Fremantle while being managed, will not return this week or play in the VFL due to Footscray having a bye.
“His high-intensity running side of his game, which has always been a great strength of his, is just compromised at the moment,” Beveridge said. “So he’s working out whether he can get to that point where it’s really going to challenge opposition midfields at AFL level.”
‘Go about changing it’: How Scott wants his players to use whiteboard saga
Jon Pierik
Essendon coach Brad Scott has urged his players to change the football world’s perception of them following the whiteboard saga.
The Brisbane Lions’ thumping win over the Bombers last Saturday was overshadowed by the publication of a picture of a whiteboard showing the Lions’ scouting report of their opponents.
The whiteboard listed the strengths and weaknesses of Essendon players, including Zach Merrett and Kyle Langford, who were deemed “selfish”, Sam Durham for being a “hot head”, and a reference to former Lion Jaxon Prior’s only strength being his girlfriend.
Take a stand: Essendon coach Brad Scott wants his players to change the perception the Lions had of them.AFL Photos via Getty Images
Lions coach Chris Fagan has said there was nothing malicious behind the comments, while Scott said on Wednesday there had been no need for the Lions to issue a “personal apology”.
However, Scott now wants his players to use the Lions’ feedback to their advantage.
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“I said post-game it’s an issue for Brisbane to deal with. My understanding is they do that for every club, we’re just the club that had it published,” Scott said.
“From our perspective, it probably does give me an opportunity to talk to our players about certain things.
“It forces me also to follow up with certain players about what we think of them because that’s more important, but don’t ignore the external views.
“Whether that’s public views but certainly when that comes from an opposition club who analyse you. You can choose to just ignore it and pretend it’s wrong, or you can think about it and analyse it and if that’s the perception, go about changing it.”
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Scott said Prior was fine but had wished “that it didn’t happen, and he didn’t have to deal with it”.
As the struggling 1-7 Bombers prepare to face GWS at Marvel Stadium on Saturday, Scott also said he backed Nate Caddy’s raw post-match comments on 3AW, where the frustrated forward declared he was tired of “mediocrity” at Essendon amid a years-long rebuild.
Caddy has won less than a third of his 34 AFL matches, Scott embracing the competitiveness of his athletic forward.
“I loved it. I talk to Nate a lot about his competitiveness, his quite explicit desire to lead our forward line as a third-year player,” Scott said.
“He’s explicit in his desire to lead the club into a period of success, and he’s hungry for that. He’s impatient, and I am so excited about that because he’s the ultimate competitor.
“He wants to do that with Essendon, he loves the place, he loves the environment, and while he’s young, he’s not in the category of trying to establish his career.
Tired of mediocrity: Bombers forward Nate Caddy.AFL Photos via Getty Images
“He’s now switched from being excited about playing AFL footy to now, ‘I want to drive this team forward’. I have seen that growth in him almost week-by-week this year.”
While former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has suggested Caddy’s comments could indicate he wanted to chase success elsewhere, Scott insisted that was not the case, nor the case with other emerging Bombers.
“Not in my experience, being in the game as a head coach for whatever it is … I haven’t seen that,” Scott said.
“I have coached, the majority of the time, I’ve coached young developing sides. We’ve recruited guys who are fully invested, and they are, taking in the Nate example, starting to take responsibility of the fortunes in the club’s future.”
Caddy is contracted until the end of 2028.
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Jon Pierik is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X or email.From our partners