CARLTON coach Brett Ratten is confident Chris Judd will take his place in the Blues line up against Richmond on Saturday despite the lingering effects of last week’s heavy clash with Matthew Lloyd.
Judd, who was concussed in the collision, took part in a skills session at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on Wednesday but the club will wait until Friday before making a call on the skipper.
“If I was a betting man I would say he would play, but like all of our players if he is not 100 per cent, or if there is some doubt, we won’t risk him, especially with a head injury like that,” Ratten said.
“Today we did a light session … just to get a bit of touch and have a bit of a swim. It was more of a recover, we’ve done a fair bit of training lately so we’ve lightened the load off, and he did all that so we’ll wait and see.
“We haven’t really trained as group, but he has done all the touch work and he feels fine with all that.
“I don’t think he felt 100 per cent during the game … but it was a big hit. Matthew Lloyd, who’s close to 100 kilos, running into you and hitting him in the right spot to tip him over; maybe it was the biggest hit that he’s had in his career.”
Judd’s availability will be a key factor in deciding what Ratten described as a huge game for his team.
“It could be a defining game for us. It could shape our season. It could give us hope and confidence going forward or it could diminish that hope and confidence. It is a big game for us,” Ratten said.
Brendan Fevola has played a lone-hand up forward for much of the season, but despite his excellent form, Ratten admitted the Blues will need to find more avenues to goal if they are to prevail.
“Brendan is a fantastic timer of leads; he does lead at the right time into the space that’s created … and when you see a big-framed person perfectly timing [a lead] into your vision, you kick the ball to him,” he said.
“[But] we’ve got a few options; we can put other players in there, we can try and use the ball a little bit differently or we can take Brendan off the ground. That might be another way of getting them to kick it to someone else in that front 50.
“We spoke a bit about the fact that we need to bring other players into the picture and see if we can put the opposition under a little bit more pressure.
“We’ve got five hours of match committee today and we might use all five just on that issue alone.”
Andrew Carrazzo was also concussed in the match against Essendon but is also considered likely to play with Ratten also confirming long-term absentees Andrew Walker and Jordan Bannister will resume in the VFL this weekend.
