Reigning Barry Priest medallist Wayde Skipper is in doubt for Hoppers Crossing’s crucial third-round battle with Spotswood in the Western Region Football League division 1 at McLean Reserve on Saturday.
Skipper injured his shoulder during the second quarter of last Saturday’s 46-point loss to a Brendan Fevola-inspired Deer Park and took no further part in the action.
Warriors coach Steven Kretiuk said the club was in wait-and-see mode in regards to its most important player.
“He’ll get some scans to make sure we know the extent of the damage,” he said.
“He could pull up fine in the next couple of days or he might not.
“He’s pretty resilient, hasn’t missed a game in two years, so hopefully he’ll be right for the weekend.”
The Warriors were the first of what is likely to be many victims of the Fevolution at Deer Park.
Fevola, who played 204 AFL games with Carlton and the Brisbane Lions, booted 10 goals in a stunning debut.
The damage could have been worse had it not been for Warrior defender Braden Ferrari, with Kretiuk saying he was rapt with his efforts.
“Having Fev down there obviously didn’t help our cause,” Kretiuk said.
“Fev probably could’ve kicked 15 or 18 goals if we had someone else on him.”
The absence of Skipper unbalanced the Warriors, with Harley Armstrong-Weston fighting out of his weight division in the ruck to fill the void.
Armstrong-Weston had a great battle with former Warrior Scott Greenhough but his side missed his ability to swing forward and back.
“He started back, then we ended up throwing him in the ruck and he was really good,” Kretiuk said.
“Greenhough is pretty mobile but I thought Harley out-ran him and worked around the ground.
“I thought we stayed in the game, maintained the pressure right throughout and didn’t drop off at all, but some of the guys got found out under pressure.
“We’ve got a lot of depth in our reserves now, so we’ll keep rotating guys through … try and get the right mix.”
In the Wyndham derby, Werribee Districts was too strong for Wyndhamvale, winning by 80 points. The Tigers showed no mercy on their newly promoted neighbours, banging on nine goals to one in the last quarter.
Chris Molivas had a day out for the Tigers with six goals, while new recruit Brian Graham was best for Wyndhamvale for the second week running.
In division 2, Manor Lakes came back from three goals down at quarter-time to record a comfortable 54-point win over West Footscray, while Glenorden took it up to Yarraville-Seddon before losing by 19.
In division 3, Sanctuary Lakes is the early pacesetter, moving to the top after a 20-point win over Wyndham Suns.
