Collingwood could welcome back forward Jamie Elliot from injury but will sweat on the availability of defensive duo Isaac Quaynor and Oleg Markov for the clash with Geelong.
Hawthorn spearhead forward Mitch Lewis has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
Melbourne captain Max Gawn will miss at least the next fortnight as a leg issue from the Eagles game has turned worse than first anticipated.
Here's all the latest injury news across theย AFL...
Star Carlton talls no certainty for Dogs bashย
Carlton pair Tom De Koning and Jacob Weitering are both tests for this week's meeting with the Western Bulldogs due to ankle and cork issues.
Weitering was hampered by a knock to the quad over the weekend against GWS but was able to see out the match.
The club has since confirmed that Weitering will need to get through this week's training block to be cleared to play.
The same can be said for De Koning, who hurt his ankle in the loss to the Giants early in the contest.
De Koning continued in the game but will need to prove his fitness in the lead-up to Saturday's game at Marvel Stadium.
Forward Jack Martin could make his second appearance of 2024 after overcoming a hamstring injury. Martin is also listed as a test and could make a return through the VFL if cleared to play.
Tigers quartet a test, no return soon for star forward
Richmond players Dustin Martin (back), Dion Prestia (calf), Samson Ryan (ankle) and Jacob Bauer (ribs) could all return this week, with the quartet needing to get through training ahead of selection.
Both Martin and Prestia could slot straight back into the senior side, while Bauer and Ryan may be considered for the VFL if fit.
Hamstrung forward Tom Lynch remains up to three weeks away from a return, while Marlion Pickett (calf) and Maurice Rioli (ankle) could also be back in the next fortnight.
Midfielder Jack Ross is three to four weeks away as he continues his rehabilitation from a foot injury.
Saint hamstrung, pair a test
St Kilda midfielder Marcus Windhager will miss at least a month after straining his hamstring in Sunday's win over Sydney.
The club confirmed the youngster's setback on Tuesday, with Windhager sidelined for up to six weeks.
โIt's disappointing for Marcus, who has really been finding some form over the past few months,โ EGM Footballย Davidย Misson said in a club update.
โMarcus is an incredibly diligent young athlete, who we know will attack his rehab with professionalism.โ
Forward Anthony Caminiti remains up to three weeks out of action, while duo Paddyย Dowย (ankle) andย Rileyย Bonner (foot) both need to prove their fitness at training this week.
Season over for Crow, defender sidelinedย
Adelaide youngster Luke Pedlar will miss the remainder of the season after hurting his shoulder in the SANFL over the weekend.
The club has revealed that Pedlar will undergo surgery and will be primed to return to training ahead of the club's planned pre-season start for 2025.
โLuke subluxed his shoulder on the weekend, he has been playing with a few shoulder issues, so he will have surgery on Thursday and will mean his season ends unfortunately,โ Burgess said.
โHis recovery is three months so he will be fine for pre-season and involved in full contact pretty much when we start, so that's the positive of having the surgery now and the negative is he was playing some good midfield minutes in the SANFL and unfortunately that's it for him.โ
Meanwhile, defender Mitch Hinge will miss this weekend's meeting with St Kilda after hurting his adductor in Sunday's loss to Brisbane.
The injury will place Hinge out of action for Round 18, with a potential return to come the week after against Essendon.
โHe was managing a little bit of adductor soreness going into the game, and to be honest he was happy to keep going, but we really wanted to insert Zac Taylor into the game so he was the obvious one to take out,โ High Performance Manager Darren Burgess said.
โIt's more than likely we will manage him through this week and he will miss the game against St Kilda, but it will only be one week and he will be back for the Essendon game.โ
Bakcman Will Hamill (finger) is close to two weeks away, while fellow backmanย Josh Worrell (arm) will be back within the month.
West Coast confirm blow for youngster
West Coast midfielder Elijah Hewett will miss the remainder of the season due to a foot issue.
The young Eagles has been dealing with minor bone stress in his foot, an ailment separate to the area of his foot where he required surgery earlier in the season.
โElijah had a big return-to-play session last Thursday and had a really good session. Unfortunately, he had a bit of foot awareness post-session, so we did some investigation,โ High Performance Manager Mat Inness toldย westcoasteagles.com.au.
โThere's low-level bone stress, which is not in the same spot as he had his original injury.
โWith the time of the year, long-term athlete, we don't want to take any risks with him so we're going to take him off legs for a couple of weeks."
The Eagles have confirmed defender Rhett Bazzo is in line for his first game of 2024 following a lengthy battle with a groin injury.
Ruckman Matt Flynn is listed as a test for Round 18.
Speedy Giant likely to return
Rebounding GWS defender Lachie Ash is expected to return this week against Richmond at the MCG.
Ash was a late out against the Blues following a corked calf at training but will be given the week to overcome the minor issue.
Docker captain "a test to play"
Alex Pearce is every chance to line up on Saturday when Fremantle take on Hawthorn in Tasmania.
โPearcy is tracking very well, he's doing everything he can to get back (to playing),โ Fremantle High-Performance Manager Phil Merriman said.
โIt's getting close, he's just got to jump over a few more hurdles in main training this week and he will be a test to play.โ
The Dockers will be without Sean Darcy due to concussion while young defender Josh Draper will be available for selection despite experiencing some groin issues against the Tigers.
Brandon Walker is also another who could come into the side.
Gold Coast captain out
The Suns are preparing to be without Touk Miller for at least a month with a wrist injury.
Miller was ruled out of the Kangaroos game at half-time, with scans on Monday confirming the extent.
โTouk was sent for scans on Monday which have shown he has sustained a small fracture to his wrist,โ Suns Head Physiotherapist Lindsay Bull said.
โWe expect Touk to be unavailable in the short term as he allows time for his wrist to heal.โ
However, Gold Coast can regain co-captain Jarrod Witts after sitting Round 17 out with a fractured vertebrae.
Forward Sam Day is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a plantar fascia issue in his foot, which is the same timeline Levi Casboult is facing with a hamstring injury.
Youngster Ethan Read is another tall gone down for the Suns after scans showed a small fracture in his leg.
Hawks sweating on forward trio, captain
Jack Ginnivan, Calsher Dear and Chad Wingard all remain a test for this weekend while captain James Sicily will need to get through training.
Sicily dislocated his shoulder during Round 16 and missed the Geelong game.
High-performance Manager Peter Burge said: "Progressing really well. His strength measures have improved each session, each time we've tested them. We had him out there today doing all of our drills, so the plan of attack for Thursday is to fully train this Thursday and then we'll make an assessment off the back of main training for his availability on the weekend."
Ginnivan is coming off the back of a hairline fracture in his fibula and is likely to have the week off to get it right.
Dear is expected to be available.
Wardlaw nearing return
North Melbourne would love to welcome back young midfielder George Wardlaw to the mix pending he passes the required concussion protocols.
Wardlaw copped a knock at training on June 27 and has missed the past two clashes as a result.
However, the club has said if he's healthy, he'll come straight back in.
"George has been progressing through the graduated physical loading program across the past week," North Melbourne head of performance Kevin White told NMFC Media.
"He is feeling energised after he rejoined group skills training today (Tuesday) and only needs to tick off during Thursday's main contact session to be available."
Defensive duo Zac Fisher (foot) and Miller Bergman (ankle) are also in a race against the clock to be available for Round 18 while Wil Dawson and Blake Drury have been given the green light.
Young Cat sidelined, veteran ruck ready
Geelong ruckman Toby Conway will be unavailable for Friday's clash with Collingwood as the club continues to assess his foot issue.
โToby has had an issue with his foot that kept him out on the weekend. We're still investigating the diagnosis and next steps, but he won't be available this week,โ Geelong Cats Assistant General Manager of Football Brett Johnson said.
โWe'll know more what that looks like beyond this weekend soon.โ
However, fellow ruckman Rhys Stanley will be available this week after overcoming a hip issue.
McGovern sent to hospital, youngster's setback revealed
No one can question Eagles defender Jeremy McGovern's courage as he backs into a contest.
But on Sunday, he was on the receiving end, suffering a minor punctured lung and fractured rib against the Demons.
Sent to hospital for scans, McGovern was discharged later in the evening but remained in Melbourne and will do so until medically cleared to travel.
โThe club is working on arrangements for Jeremy to return home as soon as possible following medical advice,โ General Manager Football Gavin Bell said.
โGov's health and wellbeing is our priority and his return to playing will be determined in due course, but at this stage, we are not expecting him to be available against Brisbane on Sunday.โ
In further testing news for Eagles fans, young midfielder Elijah Hewett has suffered an injury setback on the eve of his return to football.
In line to potentially play in the WAFL this weekend, Hewett's hopes of a comeback have been delayed due to an undisclosed injury.
Bell confined the setback, which is not related to the recent sesamoiditis operation Hewett underwent, won't see him play football this week.
Saints tagger injury worse than first thought
Young Saint midfielder Marcus Windhager could miss a month of football with a hamstring injury, according to Channel 7's Mitch Cleary.
Gold Coast is preparing to be without Touk Miller for a fortnight. Still working through finer details of his scans.
The fear from the Saints is that Marcus Windhagerโs hamstring is worse than a 3-weeker https://t.co/JRxZBOEmP0
— Mitch Cleary (@cleary_mitch) July 8, 2024
"Fears Saint Marcus Windhager's hamstring is much worse than a standard strain."
Gawn but not forgotten
Demons ruckman Max Gawn could miss up to three weeks after hurting his ankle during the West Coast contest.
โScans have today shown that Max has sustained a chip to the base of his right fibula,โ Demons football bossย Alan Richardsonย said in a club update.ย
โWhile this is disappointing news for Max, fortunately, he won't require surgery.
โMax is the ultimate professional and leader and we know he'll attack his rehab and continue to play a pivotal role in our group over the next few weeks, albeit from the sidelines.โจโจ
"While Max is the calibre of player that can't be replaced easily, it provides an exciting opportunity for others to come in and play their role in our side.โ
Bulldog blow
Intercept defender Liam Jones will likely miss up to a month of football with scans confirming damage to his medial ligament.
Jones was absent for the Port Adelaide clash in Round 17 and could be seen again in August as the club vies for a finals spot.
However, the Bulldogs are confident that the veteran will have an impact when he returns.
โIn the last few minutes of the Round 16 game against North,ย Liam Jonesย was involved in an aerial contest and landed heavily,โย Western Bulldogsย medicine boss Chris Bell said in a club update.
โThe mechanism of this landing has damaged the medial ligament in his knee and scans have confirmed a moderate grade ligament injury.
โOnce we get an idea of how fast the ligament is healing over the next 10 days, we will be more accurate with his return to play timeline.โ
Small forward Cody Weightman could return after missing with a groin injury while Alex Keath is the likely replacement for Jones against Carlton.
Aaron Naughton and James O'Donnell will miss the Blues game as they have entered concussion protocols.
Hawks season over, again
Mitch Lewis has been ruled out for the remainder of 2024 with the club confirming an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury from the weekend.
Lewis was unable to finish the game against Geelong after going down and was immediately sent for scans which revealed the worst.
The 25-year-old just returned from a hamstring injury and has failed to complete a whole season, with the most games he's played in a year being 15.
One Pie up, two more down
Craig McRae can't seem to win a trick in his premiership defence as the club has faced troubles with availability.
Isaac Quaynor and Oleg Markov will need to get through Wednesday's training session to be ticked off for Friday's game while John Noble will need to pass the concussion protocols to put his hand up for selection.
Jeremy Howe was cleared of any hamstring damage after pulling up short at training on Monday while ruckman Darcy Cameron was ticked off despite having a sore back.
However, the Pies could welcome back livewire forward Jamie Elliot to the mix, who hasn't played since Round 8.
