Saints To Decide On Ball Well Before Bounce

The Age

Tuesday September 9, 2008

Samantha Lane

ST KILDA has not abandoned hope of regaining leading midfielder Luke Ball for its cutthroat final against Collingwood this weekend, but will not rule on the fitness of its former skipper until today or tomorrow.

Defender Jason Blake will be available for the semi-final after having the shoulder and thumb injuries he sustained against Geelong during Sunday's qualifying final loss cleared yesterday, but Ball, who severely tore a hamstring five weeks ago, is rated only a 50/50 chance of returning.

"It's going to be touch and go whether he gets up," the club's football operations manager Matthew Drain said yesterday. "At this stage it's 50-50 and we'll probably decide middle of the week where he's at rather than taking it right up to the game. We'll know by whether he can do skills and that will dictate whether he plays or not.

"We'd like to think he can get up, but at the same time we can't take any risks, so we'll know by probably Wednesday where he's at."

Blake got a positive health assessment on the same day the Saints held a post-mortem on the 58-point defeat to Geelong. The key back might be eased through training early this week, but the club expects he will take his place on Saturday night.

Michael Gardiner looms as a potential inclusion after a strong performance for VFL side Casey on Saturday, though Drain was reluctant to comment on the selection prospects of the former West Coast ruckman for what would be just his 10th senior outing in two years.

"He played well, but a lot of them played well," Drain said. "We haven't looked at it closely enough, but there are a number of players that you could speculate about.

"We're not expecting forced changes, but we've reviewed the (Geelong) game with the players and looked at how Collingwood line up and how we match up. We're probably fortunate that Casey is still playing and that we've got some guys in reasonable form there . . . so there's a chance for some changes."

David Armitage, Jarryn Geary, Jarryd Allen and Shane Birss are others in line for a possible semi-final call-up.

© 2008 The Age

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