Western Bulldogs will “tread carefully” with the return of brilliant big man Tim English after his latest concussion.
English collided with teammate Matthew Kennedy in last week’s win over Port Adelaide, renewing concern over his history of head knocks.
Coach Luke Beveridge was coy on Thursday morning, insisting the Dogs will treat English’s return delicately.
“I don’t know … we haven’t got an update for you today, we’ll wait and see how he goes over the next week and what his availability will be,” Beveridge said.
“I think because of his history — he’s been out of action at different times and spent a whole pre-season a couple of years ago non-contact — we’ll tread carefully.”
English sustained concussions across 2021 and 2022 before avoiding contact in the 2024 pre-season.
The Bulldogs have been tested in the ruck department without English, deploying young talls Lachie Smith and Louis Emmett prematurely.
Beveridge says adding an extra ruckman to the list at the upcoming mid-season draft is an option for club recruiters.
“Obviously, Lachie Smith has played a bit recently and dipped his toe in the water,” he said.
“Louis Emmett has played some minutes there as a young player who is probably not ready for the ruck position, definitely not ready to be frank, but he’s a competitor and he’s done his best for us.
“It’s something that we’re thinking about, but is there a player available? And our recruiters are working through that at the moment.”
The Bulldogs are also acting cautiously with midfielder Tom Liberatore, who has not played since round 6.
While Liberatore’s comeback is not imminent, Beveridge is optimistic Liberatore’s concussion is “secondary” to the damage to his knee.
“He’ll be a while, Tom … he’s a fair way away with that knee,” he said.
“Concussion I think is secondary at the moment, for me, we’re not really talking about it, we’re talking about the knee.
“He’ll have some tests along the way around the concussion, but I think it’s mainly just about the knee at the moment.”
