\n Check out how the AFLW finalists are tracking ahead of the first week of finals\n <\/p>\n
Claudia Whitfort during the AFLW R10 match between Carlton and the Western Bulldogs at Ikon Park on October 17, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
CARLTON will be without integral midfielder\u00a0Claudia Whitfort\u00a0for its qualifying final against reigning premier North Melbourne.<\/p>\n
The former Sun has a history of soft tissue injuries, and scans revealed a minor hamstring injury suffered in the opening term of last week’s win over Brisbane. There’s no guarantee Whitfort will be available for Carlton’s second final, either, having been ruled out for 1-2 weeks.<\/p>\n
The Blues had “managed” key back\u00a0Maddy Hendrie\u00a0last week, but have since revealed she has a finger injury, and will be a test this week.<\/p>\n
Ruck\u00a0Jess Good\u00a0is also managing an ongoing foot issue, but is also expected to pass a test to face the Roos.<\/p>\n
The news is decidedly better at the Western Bulldogs, with co-captain\u00a0Isabelle Pritchard closing in on a return for Sunday’s elimination final.<\/p>\n
The star midfielder suffered a minor knee injury in round 11 and sat out last weekend. At Tuesday’s long training session, she rotated in and out of the main training group, moving freely and without strapping on her knee.<\/p>\n
Isabelle Pritchard during the AFLW R11 match between the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne at Mission Whitten Oval on October 24, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
Pritchard will be a test for Sunday’s sudden-death match against Sydney, with\u00a0Elaine Grigg\u00a0(rolled ankle) also expected to be fine, despite being on light loads on Tuesday.\u00a0Jess Fitzgerald\u00a0has raced through her hamstring rehab, but is still at least a week away.<\/p>\n
Sydney is a chance to be boosted by the surprise return of\u00a0Sofia Hurley, who has spent the past seven weeks sidelined with a serious ankle injury. The classy mover was listed as 3-6 weeks away last week, but is a test for the Swans’ elimination final.<\/p>\n
Ruck\u00a0Caitlin Reid\u00a0will undergo surgery on a fractured jaw, and while there’s no timeline on her return, is unlikely to be sighted again this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Melbourne could have up to five inclusions for its qualifying final, including\u00a0Eliza McNamara\u00a0(jaw),\u00a0Liv Purcell\u00a0(managed),\u00a0Paxy Paxman\u00a0(ankle soreness),\u00a0Shelley Heath-Barker\u00a0(concussion) and\u00a0Georgia Campbell\u00a0(illness).<\/p>\n
Skipper\u00a0Kate Hore\u00a0suffered a “stinger” to her shoulder in the final minutes of the win over Adelaide, but was not named on the Dees’ injury list.<\/p>\n
Gold Coast is likely to make a host of changes, with\u00a0Ava Usher\u00a0(suspension),\u00a0Daisy D’Arcy\u00a0(concussion),\u00a0Dekota Baron\u00a0(head knock)\u00a0and\u00a0Clara Fitzpatrick\u00a0(foot) set to be available, but\u00a0Rhianna Ingram\u00a0and\u00a0Meara Girvan\u00a0will miss with their own concussions.<\/p>\n
North Melbourne premiership defender\u00a0Eliza Shannon\u00a0will return to the selection mix this weekend, provided her remaining days in concussion protocols go to plan, while former skipper\u00a0Emma Kearney\u00a0(hamstring) is a chance for the Roos’ second final.<\/p>\n
Fellow defender\u00a0Tessa Boyd\u00a0(managed, knee) is now available.<\/p>\n
Hawthorn is a chance to regain versatile tall\u00a0Mack Eardley, who has missed the past two weeks with an ankle injury, while\u00a0Grace Baba\u00a0has finally returned to full training after spending three months on the sidelines with her own ankle issue.<\/p>\n
Check out each of the finalists’ full injury lists below.<\/p>\n
PLAYER
\nINJURY
\nESTIMATED RETURN<\/p>\n
Brooke Boileau
\nFoot
\n1-2 weeks<\/p>\n
Jess Good
\nFoot
\nTest<\/p>\n
Maddy Guerin
\nKnee
\nInactive<\/p>\n
Breann Harrington
\nPregnancy
\nInactive<\/p>\n
Maddy Hendrie
\nFinger
\nTest<\/p>\n
Claudia Whitfort
\nHamstring
\n1-2 weeks<\/p>\n
Updated: November 3, 2026<\/p>\n
PLAYER
\nINJURY
\nESTIMATED RETURN<\/p>\n
Priva Bowering
\nFoot
\n1-3 weeks<\/p>\n
Zali Friswell
\nFemur
\n2-4 weeks<\/p>\n
Emma Kilpatrick
\nACL
\nSeason<\/p>\n
Georgie Rankin
\nNeck
\nInactive<\/p>\n
Updated: November 3, 2026<\/p>\n
PLAYER
\nINJURY
\nESTIMATED RETURN<\/p>\n
Dekota Baron
\nConcussion
\nTest<\/p>\n
Georgia Clayden
\nPregnancy
\nInactive<\/p>\n
Daisy D’Arcy
\nConcussion
\nTest<\/p>\n
Clara Fitzpatrick
\nFoot
\nTest<\/p>\n
Meara Girvan
\nConcussion
\nTBC<\/p>\n
Rhianna Ingram
\nConcussion
\nTBC<\/p>\n
Annabel Kievit
\nKnee
\nSeason<\/p>\n
Updated: November 3, 2026<\/p>\n
PLAYER
\nINJURY
\nESTIMATED RETURN<\/p>\n
Grace Baba
\nAnkle
\nTest<\/p>\n
Emily Bates
\nKnee
\nSeason<\/p>\n
Mackenzie Eardley
\nAnkle
\nTest<\/p>\n
Emily Everist
\nKnee
\nSeason<\/p>\n
Matilda Van Berkel
\nFoot
\nSeason<\/p>\n
Updated: November 3, 2026<\/p>\n
PLAYER
\nINJURY
\nESTIMATED RETURN<\/p>\n
Mia Austin
\nThroat
\n2-3 weeks<\/p>\n
Chloe Baker-West\u00a0
\nLeg
\nInactive<\/p>\n
Grace Beasley\u00a0
\nKnee
\nInactive<\/p>\n
Georgia Campbell
\nIllness
\nTest<\/p>\n
Lauren Clifton
\nFoot
\n2-3 weeks<\/p>\n
Sinead Goldrick
\nHamstring
\n2-3 weeks<\/p>\n
Shelley Heath-Barker
\nConcussion
\nTest<\/p>\n
Eliza McNamara
\nJaw
\nTest<\/p>\n
Paxy Paxman
\nAnkle
\nTest<\/p>\n
Updated: November 3, 2026<\/p>\n
PLAYER
\nINJURY
\nESTIMATED RETURN<\/p>\n
Emma Kearney
\nHamstring
\n1-2 weeks<\/p>\n
Mia King
\nNeck
\nSeason<\/p>\n
Eliza Shannon
\nConcussion
\nTest<\/p>\n
Amy Smith
\nKnee
\nInactive<\/p>\n
Sarah Wall
\nKnee
\nSeason<\/p>\n
Updated: November 3, 2026<\/p>\n
PLAYER
\nINJURY
\nESTIMATED RETURN<\/p>\n
Sofia Hurley
\nAnkle
\nTest<\/p>\n
Alice Mitchell
\nACL
\nInactive<\/p>\n
Ally Morphett
\nKnee
\nSeason<\/p>\n
Alex Neyland
\nACL
\nInactive<\/p>\n
Caitlin Reid
\nJaw
\nTBC<\/p>\n
Brenna Tarrant
\nACL
\nSeason<\/p>\n
Updated: November 3, 2026<\/p>\n
PLAYER
\nINJURY
\nESTIMATED RETURN<\/p>\n
Jess Fitzgerald
\nHamstring
\n1-2 weeks<\/p>\n
Charlie O’Connor Moreira
\nKnee
\n4-6 weeks<\/p>\n
Isabelle Pritchard
\nKnee
\nTest<\/p>\n
Updated: November 3, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Check out how the AFLW finalists are tracking ahead of the first week of finals Claudia Whitfort during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":951160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-951159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}