He said Motlop had recovered after two weeks off with an ankle injury and Gray appeared to be over his thigh injury. Carlile missed Wednesday’s main training session with a head cold but would make the trip to the Territory.
Richmond discard Danny Meyer is also in line for an AFL call-up. Meyer, who played 17 games with the Tigers, could become one of the first rookies elevated under the AFL’s new ruling as a replacement for the injured Travis Boak.
Williams said Power's mounting injury list, which includes five midfielders— Boak, Shaun Burgoyne, Chad Cornes, Matt Thomas and Hamish Hartlett—meant the makeshift onball brigade would face a big challenge this week.
“We think the Western Bulldogs are one of the outstanding teams going around,” Williams said on Thursday.
“They can give you a little glimpse of an opportunity, but they work for the whole time and you have to be prepared to be able to run for the whole game.”
Both sides are renowned for playing a running style of football and Williams said he was prepared to back his team in a scoring shoot-out at TIO Stadium.
“We’ll be taking risks this week and we’re quite excited about our forwards. We want to get the ball in our forward line and see what they can do,” he said.
“It’s a huge challenge for our midfield because the Western Bulldogs are terrific at scoring from stoppages and when it gets inside their forward 50m they’re number one in accuracy and scoring goals.
“The Bulldogs can play a shootout and do very well… we don’t mind if it’s a shootout as long as we shoot better than them.”
