Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge admits he has no idea when Tim English will be available after the ruck star was ruled out of the AFL clash with Geelong with an ongoing knee injury.
There were reports English could make a faster-than-expected return against the Cats at GMHBA Stadium on Friday night to relieve inexperienced back-up Louis Emmett.
But the 2023 All-Australian ruckman will remain sidelined for at least one more week, with no firm timeline on his return.
“I know that you’re all finding that hard to deal with, but with most of our playing group over the journey, you can kind of predict when they’re going to be ready,” Beverdige said.
“He’s still uncertain with the way he hasn’t bounced out of the incident or the mechanism where he got injured.
“He won’t play this week and I’m not sure whether it’s two, three or four weeks.”
The Bulldogs are set to again turn to second-gamer Emmett and Jordan Croft to shoulder the bulk of the ruck load, after the pair were outpointed by imposing Hawthorn duo Ned Reeves and Lloyd Meek last week.
They will take on a Geelong ruck division led by the inexperienced Mitch Edwards and star utility Mark Blicavs, who reaches the 300-game milestone against the Bulldogs.
Key defender Rory Lobb remains Beveridge’s “break glass” ruck option, as the Dogs (4-1) seek to bounce back from their first loss of the season against the Cats (2-3).
Beveridge has put his team’s stoppage work under a microscope after they coughed up six goals from ruck contests in their defensive 50m zone against Hawthorn.
They were also well beaten in the contested phase of the game and gave up the ball far too easily.
“We’ve got to minimise that happening because Geelong have some pretty strong key backs and big pillar-type players that will intercept the ball, but we haven’t been using the ball well,” Beveridge said.
“The opposition will only let you play a certain way, and we’ve forced our way through it at times, but we need a better blend in the phases and that’s what we’ll go after.”
Beveridge confirmed veteran midfielder Tom Liberatore (hamstring) will return against Geelong and spearhead Aaron Naughton will play with a protective glove on his sore hand.
But there is still a watch on gun ball-winner Ed Richards, who is battling an ankle injury and took part in a light training session with teammates on Thursday.
Geelong will likely welcome back captain Patrick Dangerfield (calf) against the Bulldogs, with Jack Martin and Blicavs also set to return.
The Bulldogs ended a 20-year drought at GMHBA Stadium in 2023 and have won on two of their past three visits to the Kardinia Park venue, but were 14-point losers to the Cats there last season.
