Following Jack Macrae’s absence from the Western Bulldogs’ opening loss to Melbourne, coach Luke Beveridge thinks it’s too soon to predict if the experienced midfielder will be used against Gold Coast.
Despite playing two VFL practice matches, three-time All-Australian Macrae was left out of Sunday’s 45-point loss at the MCG due to an interrupted pre-season.
Caleb Daniel, a senior Bulldog, was designated the backup.
“With Jacko, he had a stress-related, through his femur, concern over the pre-season – he worked really hard over his off-season,” Beveridge stated.
“And then he suffered a hamstring injury, which prevented him from training or running for a while. He needs to be able to cover ground.”
“I thought Melbourne’s midfield was able to accomplish that more skillfully than we did tonight.
“We’ll merely hold off on using the ground cover until Jack is fully prepared to give his greatest performance. Thus, he is not far off.”
In response to a question about whether Macrae, who has fallen in the midfield hierarchy in recent years, may play for Ballarat against the Suns on Sunday, Beveridge stated, “Too early – we’ll work through that during the week.”
Daniel was overlooked for a starting role behind recruits James Harmes, Nick Coffield and debutant Harvey Gallagher.
The 27-year-old replaced Ryley Sanders late in the third quarter and had 12 disposals – more than eight other Bulldogs.
Beveridge said Daniel typically played his “roles and reponsibilities … pretty well”, but he had been omitted in light of the strong pre-seasons of several teammates, although many of those will have been “frustrated” with their performances on Sunday.
When asked whether Daniel could start against the Suns, Beveridge said: “Too early. We’ll process that during the week.”
No.6 draft pick Sanders had been a revelation during the week and had collected 15 touches before being hooked.
“He’s fine. At that point in time he was one of a handful that could have come off for experience and stability in the team,” Beveridge said.
“Ryley’s going really well. He’s going to be a tremendous player for the club and he’s still learning. But he was the one.”
“We’ll look after him and make sure he heads into next week with a positive mindset.”
Sanders’ substitution came after consecutive turnovers, but Beveridge insisted that was purely a coincidence.
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