Sydney ruckman Shane Mumford will be given until Saturday to prove his fitness for Sunday’s AFL clash with Richmond at the SCG.
Mumford has played just two senior games this season and has missed Sydney’s last six matches after having an operation to remove an infection in his back.
The 25-year-old big man trained with the team on Friday, but coach John Longmire emphasised a final decision on his premier ruckman wouldn’t be made until the eve of the game.
“If he pulls up pretty well tomorrow he’s a big chance of playing,” Longmire told reporters on Friday.
“We won’t make that decision until tomorrow after our final training session.
“He’s done everything that we’ve asked of him over the past week or two.
“He’s been increasing his training time fairly dramatically and been responding pretty well, so hopefully the last piece of the puzzle this week is him being able to train well today and pull up well tomorrow and if he does that he’ll certainly be under strong consideration to play.”
Longmire said while Mumford’s back is good, his fitness has been more of an issue.
He stressed Mumford would not spend as much time in the ruck as usual if he was passed fit to play the Bulldogs.
“He’ll be spending some time in the ruck and a bit of time forward if he plays,” Longmire said.
Longmire said the only other fitness issue for Sydney was a sore foot for Lewis Roberts-Thomson, who hadn’t trained with the team until Friday.