Western Bulldogs forward Aaron Naughton is a chance to line up in Friday night’s Wildcard Final against Collingwood.
Despite suffering an acute ankle injury in the third quarter of the Dogs-Dees clash on Saturday, the 26-year-old has been listed as a test for the do-or-die final.
“Aaron landed awkwardly in an aerial contest in the third quarter and damaged a ligament in the outside of his ankle joint, and has associated swelling and symptoms,” Bulldogs Head of Sports Medicine Chris Bell said.
“With our short turnaround into the Pies on Friday night, we are working around the clock to make sure that his ankle injury improves across the next 72 hours to align his availability for Friday night.”
The Bulldogs could also regain Tim English and Nick Coffield for the historic Wildcard Final, who are both listed as tests.
“In the Round 22 game against North Melbourne, an opposition player fell across Tim’s knee which caused an injury to the medial ligament on the outside of his knee,” Bell said.
“Tim has been incredibly diligent working with our rehabilitation team since the injury and has made rapid progress in the last seven days.
“He still has some boxes to tick across this week so we can ensure that he is ready to perform at his best, so we will look to make a decision on his availability later this week.
While Tom Liberatore’s timeline remains to be confirmed following a minor arthroscopic procedure, Bell is optimistic the midfielder could feature at some stage across the finals series.
“Tom suffered some acute knee symptoms in training last week related to a cartilage issue in his knee - this is the opposite knee to which he had an issue earlier in the 2026 season,” Bell said.
“To best manage this issue, Tom underwent a minor arthroscopic procedure on Saturday afternoon, and is already back at the Club and aggressively attacking his rehabilitation.
“We will set a more definitive return to play plan in the coming days but remain optimistic that Tom's magnet will return to the whiteboard for selection at some stage across our final series.”
Injury List: Wildcard Final
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