The Western Bulldogs shockingly have a larger injury list this week than they did ahead of Round 1, following the on-field carnage against North Melbourne.
Brisbane forward Lincoln McCarthy is putting a bold bid in for September after going under radical surgery to fix his torn ACL.
Here's the latest on the injury front across theย AFLย landscape...
Premiership Cat treated with a "conservative approach"
Geelong defender Jake Kolodjashnij will be treated cautiously as he overcomes a groin issue.
Ableit progressing well through his rehab, Kolodjashnij is another fortnight away.
Jed Bews will miss up to three months of football with a finger injury.
No return dates have been given to Tanner Bruhn (finger), Toby Conway (back), Cam Guthrie (Achilles), Mitch Edwards (Pelvis) and Cillian Burke (knee).
Eagles captain, livewire forward a chance
West Coast captain Liam Duggan will be available for selection in Round 2.
Duggan rolled his ankle in the heavy loss to Gold Coast but has overcome any niggling issues to be ready.
Liam Ryan is also a test after returning to full training last week.
"Liam Ryan trained fully last week and was extremely close to playing,โ High-Performance Manager Mat Inness said.
"He was not risked in round one due to some hamstring awareness out of the North pre-season game but should be available this weekend if he gets through training on Thursday."
Unfortunately, Jake Waterman and Jack Hutchinson will spend some time on the sidelines.
"Jake has been managing a disc in his back, which has referred pain to his calf," Inness said.
"Given the calf pain, we scanned him last week which showed no muscle damage.
"After further assessment, he won't be available this weekend due to calf pain from his pre-existing back complaint, and we will reassess next week.
"Jack Hutchinson sustained a moderate-grade hamstring in the middle of the last quarter."
Rhett Bazzo will be available for selection after off-season surgery to repair a fractured bone in his right foot.
Swan Melican to miss weeks after late-game injury
Suffering a strained adductor in the fourth quarter against Brisbane, Lewis Melican will miss the next 2-3 weeks of action, while hamstrung Taylor Adams is unexpected to be available for at least 2-3 more weeks after his Opening Round injury.
Errol Gulden's timeline will be determined after meeting with specialists in three weeks.
Dockers recruit in line for debut
Shai Bolton is a test to play his first game in purple colours after he missed Round 1.
Bolton has been tending to a leg issue for the past month and will need to get through training.
"Shai is going to be up for a test at main training, we're just settling down a fibula so if he gets through training, he will be available for selection," High-Performance Manager Phil Merriman said.
Sam Switkowski will be sidelined for the next two to three weeks after sustaining an adductor injury.
The Dockers small forward injured himself during the Geelong loss.
Veteran Michael Walters will spend more time on the sidelines after receiving a knock in the pre-season clash and has yet to recover fully.
"He has a little bit of bone bruising there," Merriman said.
"We are going to de-load him for a week or two and then build him back up."
Roo defender ruled out
North Melbourne's Griffin Logue will miss the clash against Melbourne due to a hamstring issue.
Logue felt tightness during Saturday's loss to the Bulldogs, with scans showing a minor strain.
"He is feeling good and will hopefully continue to trend positively over the remainder of this week," Kangaroos head of performance Kevin White said.
Fellow defender Charlie Comben is in a race to be fit for Round 2 after being hampered by a foot sprain.
"The foot sprain caused swelling ... and an inability for Charlie to return to play," White said.
"He had good function and completed a straight-line running session on Tuesday morning. He will look to tick off his availability to play at the back end of the week."
Saints pair tests to play after pre-season setbacks
St Kilda forward pair Mitchito Owens and Liam Henry are tests to return this weekend, as the club gears up for an important clash against Geelong.
Owens is overcoming a shoulder injury sustained in the pre-season clash against the Power, while Henry is recovering from a post-season knee surgery.
โMitch was close last week, but we ultimately made the call to give his shoulder another week of rehabilitation,โ general manager of St Kilda David Misson said.
โLiam has been back at full training for a few weeks now, gradually building his capacity on the knee. He'll be ready to go provided he's cleared as match fit.โ
Melbourne youngster to be "monitored", star defender ruled out
Caleb Windsor will be monitored leading into Round 2 after reporting heel soreness after Round 1's loss to GWS on Sunday.
Melbourne high-performance manager Selwyn Griffith said his heel had swollen and showed signs of infection 24 hours after the match.
"Caleb presented with a sore heel following the game and within 24 hours, had a little increase in swelling and infection to that area," Griffith said.ย
"He's on antibiotics at the moment. How he responds to that will determine his availability for this week."
Star defender Steven May has been ruled out for a return against North Melbourne next week, continuing to heal from a fractured larynx.
โBased on the advice from specialists, he didn't play on the weekend, and he will be unavailable for this week,โ said Griffith.
โWe have a follow up review with the specialists this week, which will guide his return.ย ย
โThankfully, it's not as bad as the one that Max [Gawn] sustained earlier in pre-season, and we do have some evidence to go off from previously managing an injury like this.โ
Carlton Coleman medallist to return
Dual Coleman medal winner Charlie Curnow is fit and ready to return for a crucial clash against Hawthorn in Round 2 after healing from a minor knee procedure last month.
The surgery was required to help heal a lingering issue throughout pre-season.
Orazio Fantasia (calf) will have his timeline reassessed after Round 5 after a calf strain setback late last week.
Essendon forward to miss up to six weeks
Kyle Langford has been ruled out for 4-6 weeks with a hamstring strain suffered in the loss to Hawthorn on Friday night.
Langford was sent for scans on Monday and received the news he will miss a chunk of the season, depleting Essendon's forward line stocks for at least the next month.
Jordan Ridley will miss the Round 2 clash with Adelaide due to concussion protocols.
Crows wingman available for selection
Adelaide will have their hands full at the selection table as Chayce Jones overcomes a shoulder injury to be made available in Round 2.
Jones hurt his shoulder in a SANFL trial match earlier this month but has rejoined full training and will eye off Essendon as a return game.
"Chayce has missed the last two weeks with that shoulder injury but he's completed everything we've asked him to do and he will be available for selection this weekend,โ High-Performance Manager Darren Burgess said.
"Pleasingly we came through both games on the weekend (SANFL trial and AFL game against St Kilda) unscathed so we're pretty happy with that."
Suns defender suffers cruel injury blow
Gold Coast defender Charlie Ballard will miss the remainder of the 2025 AFL season after suffering an ACL injury in the Suns' Round 1 clash against West Coast on Sunday.
Ballard came from the field in the second quarter after an innocuous landing from an uncontested mark, and was subbed out of the contest.
The 25-year-old was sent for scans on Monday which revealed an ACL rupture.
An integral part of Gold Coast's defence, the 134-gamer recently re-signed until 2029.
He will receive advice on surgery in the coming days.
โCharlie received scans upon arriving back on the Gold Coast late yesterday afternoon with results confirming he had suffered a ruptured ACL,โ Gold Coast general manager Wayne Campbell said.
โIt's terrible news for Charlie and the team, but we will provide him with all the support he needs throughout his recovery to ensure he returns to his best next year.โ
โCharlie is an extremely important member of our club, on and off the field, and we will be with him each step of his journey.โ
Dogs downed by injury count ahead of Pies clash
The Western Bulldogs will likely need to look to replace defender James O'Donnell after he was subbed out from Round 1 with a jaw injury.
"This caused a small crack in his jawbone, which required surgery where a metal plate was put in to stabilise the crack," Bulldogs Head of Sports Medicine Chris Bell said.
"The surgery was completed yesterday, and he has bounced out well and is already chomping at the bit to get back into training.
"We will reassess where he is at on Wednesday, before confirming when he will return to playing."
As expected, Luke Cleary has entered the concussion protocols after the sickening incident involving Jackson Archer.
Cleary went to the hospital and underwent precautionary scans, which cleared him of any serious structural damage.
Emerging youngster Riley Garcia will also be out after sustaining a knee injury in the VFL.
"In the last two minutes of our VFL practice game, Riley was involved in a tackle where he twisted his knee. This mechanism has caused some damage to the cartilage in Riley's knee," Bell added.
"Unfortunately, this injury requires surgery to remove the cartilage fragment.
"The surgery is being completed this afternoon, so we will have an updated return-to-play timeline in the coming days."
Essendon duo to miss
Jordan Ridley and Kyle Langford will miss the club's Round 2 encounter with Adelaide.
Langford could miss up to six weeks following a hamstring injury while Ridley entered concussion protocols after copping a swinging arm to the face from Jack Scrimshaw.
Tigers defender a test for Round 2
Richmond tall Jacob Blight will be in a race to deem himself available for selection after exiting last week's win with a sore adductor.
Blight largely played on Harry McKay but was subbed out due to the injury.
"He slipped in back play and got a little bit of adductor soreness. He'll be a test for this weekend and hopefully gets through his cramping and we'll be right," High Performance Manager Ben Serpell said.
There's no real change on draftee Josh Smillie, who is another fortnight away with his hamstring injury.
Dion Prestia (Achilles) and Hugo Ralphsmith (Hamstring) are "tracking well in rehab" but will need to build up their loads. The club believes they are two to five weeks away.
And draftee Jonty Faull could come into consideration after getting some much-needed VFL minutes, albeit on limited time.
Lively Lion cleared of serious injury
Brisbane forward Kai Lohmann has been cleared of serious injury after an innocuous injury early in Saturday's win over Sydney.
After he was subbed out, fears went into the Lions camp that Lohmann had sustained a syndesmosis injury. But scans confirmed it was just an ankle sprain, which didn't require surgery.
The club expects Lohmann to miss up to two weeks but will be assessed in the coming days.
The injured Lincoln McCarthy is also putting forward a bold bid to return to football in 2025 despite recently re-tearing his ACL.
McCarthy missed out on last year's premiership triumph and is expected to miss this season, but he's now looking at non-traditional treatment to assist in a speedy recovery.
Defender Brandon Starcevich will miss with a concussion.
Small forward Charlie Cameron is a chance to feature after being a late withdrawal from the Sydney contest while Darcy Gardiner will be available for selection after overcoming his ACL injury from Round 8 last year.
Scrimshaw suffers concussion
Hawthorn tall Jack Scrimshaw will miss Thursday's game against Carlton after entering concussion protocols.
Scrimshaw will be sidelined for the mandatory minimum of 12 days after a collision with new teammate Josh Battle left his nose bloodies.
"He obviously had a pretty nasty collision during the game last week which resulted in him being subbed out with concussion as well as some facial damage," High Performance Manager Peter Burge said.
"He's had some minor surgery, just some corrective stuff, which is done now. He's at home and recovering. We'll get him moving during the week through the concussion protocols into next week. We'll have more of an update next week on him."
The left-footer will also face the Tribunal on Tuesday night to challenge the three-game charge handed down by the MRO for his incident involving Jordan Ridley.
James Worpel is two to three weeks away with his ankle injury while ACL victim James Blanck could return within a month.
