AFL: Brady Hough and Isiah Winder near best 22 after West Coast injuries, Fremantle scratch Connor Blakely

Brady Hough’s chances of an early season debut at the West Coast Eagles have firmed with the club’s torrid run of injuries continuing. Premiership hero Dom Sheed, gun midfielder Elliot Yeo and Hough’s draft classmate Campbell Chesser all picked up significant injuries in the Eagles’ blowout pre-season loss to Fremantle on Friday night. It is a boost for both Hough and former Eaton Boomers forward Isiah Winder’s hopes of finding a spot in Adam Simpson’s side, with the club’s injury toll mounting to 12. Midfielders Greg Clark, Sam Petresvski-Seton, Sheed, Yeo and captain Luke Shuey are all hampered, while Liam Duggan and Chesser, who were both looking like potential on-ballers, have also been sidelined. The South West pair were both brought on after half-time in the practice match, which the Dockers won 22.9 (141) to 6.8 (44). No official stats were released for the practice match, but Winder recorded eight AFL fantasy points, while Hough collected 18. For Fremantle, fellow Harvey product Ethan Hughes was productive down back, but Connor Blakely was a late scratching, in a blow for his hopes of a spot in the best 22. Hughes recorded 54 fantasy points, the same as fellow rebound defender Nathan Wilson, who he is likely to battle for a spot with. Both players fell out of the side at the end of the 2021 season, with Hughes managing just eight games after a shoulder injury forced him out for a month in the middle of the year. Blakely played 13 games last season, setting the early record for most games as the medical substitute. He was delisted in the off-season and re-rookied by the club alongside Mitch Crowden in a move the Dockers said was for “administrative purposes”. He instead played in a pre-season tune-up with Peel Thunder at the weekend, a game which featured a number of listed Dockers including forgotten defender Joel Hamling. He had originally been named in the 26-man squad to take on the Eagles. Bunbury-born Sandover medalist Bailey Rogers began training with Fremantle late last week as he battles for the list spot vacated by the retiring Luke Valente, but none of the club’s new train-on players featured in the first practice game. The deadline for clubs to sign players through the league’s supplementary selection period is March 9, between the pre-season games and round one. The two sides meet again in an official AAMI Community Series practice match this Sunday. Fremantle’s Busselton first-round draftee Jye Amiss was left out of the warm up, but is expected to be given “some minutes” in what will be Dockers fans’ first glimpse of their new forward. The match will be the first men’s game of the season played before crowds and will be held at Fremantle Oval.