Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has revealed skipper Marcus Bontempelli has been dealing with a bruised heel on top of his already sore knee. <\/p>\n
The Bulldogs star played through the pain against Fremantle on Friday night with what was suspected knee trouble, but the Dogs coach revealed the heel was the main reason Bontempelli was limping during the game. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been able to deal with that and manage it a little bit \u2026 he\u2019s pretty confident he should be available,\u201d Beveridge said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe knee has given him some discomfort, but if you\u2019ve got a bruised heel, it can cause some issues, but we think that\u2019s improving, so that\u2019s important.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty high bar as far as the pain threshold for him and he wants to play. I\u2019m not going to talk him out of doing that. But if he\u2019s really compromised in anything, then he definitely won\u2019t play, but we\u2019re not at that point at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beveridge wouldn\u2019t say if Bontempelli might be rested at some point later in the season.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday afternoon, the AFL announced full-time psychologists and psychiatrists would be mandated within AFL clubs after Carlton was fined for allowing Elijah Hollands onto the field while suffering a medical episode.<\/p>\n
However, Beveridge questioned whether it was a \u201cplay on words\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens in an AFL environment (is) we all take care of the players\u2019 welfare,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
However, he also claimed the AFL\u2019s new illicit drug policy \u201ccompromises our care\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the things with the new illicit code where certain people aren\u2019t allowed to know if players are struggling from a mental health point of view, it just compromises our care,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a full-time psych would look like is hard because of our itineraries. We\u2019re all over the shop. I\u2019m not sure what that means with that sort of outcome and that suggestion that\u2019s going to be mandated. We\u2019ll wait for more information.\u201d<\/p>\n