Ruck woes worry Bombers ahead of Geelong clash

Shayne Hope | July 10, 2023

Essendon are facing a potential ruck crisis ahead of the blockbuster AFL clash with Geelong as Andrew Phillips comes under scrutiny for a high bump on Adelaide’s Reilly O’Brien.

First-choice ruckman Sam Draper is likely to remain sidelined for the fifth-versus-eighth showdown at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night as he attempts to overcome a hip issue.

And a suspension for Phillips could force the Bombers to call on eight-game tall Nick Bryan to shoulder the ruck load against Cats premiership veteran Rhys Stanley.

Phillips ran past the ball and made contact to O’Brien’s head with a bump in the final minute of Essendon’s impressive win over Adelaide.

O’Brien was not seriously hurt in the incident.

Phillips will learn his fate on Monday when the league’s match review officer delivers his assessment.

“We want our ruckmen to shepherd and I haven’t looked at it in detail on whether he got him high or not, but the impact didn’t look huge,” Essendon coach Brad Scott said.

“We’ll let the MRO take care of that.”

Bryan has played just two games this season – most recently against Fremantle in round 15 – and was substituted out of both.

The 21-year-old was on the emergency list against Adelaide.

Cult hero Draper has missed all three of Essendon’s games since the mid-season bye and there is still no clarity around his return to action.

“The goal is just to build him up to main training and then we can have an accurate assessment of when he’ll come back,” Scott said.

“But I can’t see it being this week.”

The Bombers have further injury concerns over defender Jordan Ridley, who will have scans on the left knee he hyperextended in a marking contest against the Crows.

Ridley had the joint strapped and briefly returned to the field on Sunday but was substituted out of the match minutes later.

Scott said Ridley probably had some bone bruising, putting him in doubt for the Geelong clash.

“The docs can’t give me a definitive diagnosis at the moment, but the fact they thought (the knee) was structurally OK and Rids wanted to give it a go, that gives you a bit of confidence,” Scott said.

“But there are no guarantees until we get that scan.”

Scott also attempted to hose down concerns over star defender Mason Redman’s hamstring issue, saying the unsigned free agent “should be fine”.