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InjuryIQ

Gold Coast Suns vs Melbourne — AFL 2026 Round 21

Round 21

Match details

Home & Away
Round 21
Gold Coast Suns
vs
Melbourne
—
—Round Health Score (0–100), last 5 rounds. Scores drift down league-wide as the season's injury load builds — read the slope relative to the league, not the level.
Round health
—
—Round Health Score (0–100), last 5 rounds. Scores drift down league-wide as the season's injury load builds — read the slope relative to the league, not the level.

Round health not yet available.

Season —
Season —

Head-to-head

7Ongoing injuries8
1Long-term (LTI)4
8 dDays' rest9 d
0Games in 21 days1
1,595 kmLast month air km0 km
Squad stabilityGCS 14thMEL 16th of 18

Value-weighted players used — 1st = most churn of key players, 18th = most settled. Weighted by player value (our metric), not raw squad size.

Soft-tissue = the OSIICS muscle/tendon family — the injuries most prone to recurrence (GCS 1, MEL 1).

What do these scores mean?
Round Health
— point-in-time (0–100, 100 = no injury absences), weighting current ongoing absences on a fixed scale comparable across rounds. The league average drifts down as the season's injury load builds, so low late-season numbers are normal.
Season Health
— cumulative season-to-date: value-weighted injury burden, availability and incidence. Load-managed rests are excluded from both.
Sun 2 Aug · 3:15pm·Heritage Bank Stadium, Gold Coast
State
QLD
Surface
Natural grass
Roof
Open roof
Capacity
25,000

Possible returns

Currently-injured players who could feature — fitness tests, squad signals and projected returns.

GCS
  • Daniel RioliDEF
    Projected return
    Head/Neck — Jaw FractureDue this week
MEL
  • Harrison PettyFWD
    Projected return
    Hamstring — Hamstring StrainDue this week

Returnees to watch

Recently back from injury and still in the elevated-reinjury window — risk concentrates in the first games back, especially for soft-tissue.

GCS
  • Jake Rogersback from hamstring · 1 game back
    Recurrence
    Soft-tissue return — recurrence risk is highest in the first games back.
  • Will Grahamback from hamstring · 1 game backSoft-tissue return — recurrence risk is highest in the first games back.
  • Koby Coulsonback from quadriceps · 2 games backSoft-tissue return — recurrence risk is highest in the first games back.
  • Avery Thomasback from knee · 2 games back
MEL
  • Christian Salemback from foot · 1 game back
  • Lukas Cookeback from head/neck · 1 game back
  • Jed Adamsback from knee · 1 game back
  • Harrison Pettyback from hamstring · 2 games backSoft-tissue return — recurrence risk is highest in the first games back.

Current injuries

The confirmed outs for both squads (13 across both), ranked by impact. Players in doubt are listed under Possible returns above.

GCS hold a slight availability edge (8 ongoing injuries to 7); MEL 4 of them long-term.

GCS6 out
  • Elliott HimmelbergFWD
    LTI

    Knee — Knee Injury (General)

    Long-term
    Injury-proneDue Sep 30
  • Lachlan GulbinFWD

    Wrist/Hand — Hand/Wrist Injury (General)

    Moderate
    Due Aug 1
  • Alex DaviesMID

    Foot — Foot Injury (General)

    Moderate
    Injury-proneDue this week
  • Will GrahamFWD

    Shoulder — Shoulder Injury (General)

    Minor
    Injury-proneDue Jul 25
  • Lachie WellerMID
    Recurrence

    Hamstring — Hamstring Strain

    Minor
    Due Jul 25
  • Jy FarrarFWD

    Ankle/Foot — Ankle Injury (General)

    Minor
    Injury-proneDue Aug 2

Signals

  • 1recurrence
  • 3awaiting diagnosis
  • 4durability-fragile
  • What they lose: 4 of 7 outs are forwards

Recurrence flags repeat injuries to the same body region within 24 months.

Injury classifications use the OSIICS system (Orchard Sports Injury and Illness Classification System). © John Orchard — Free to use with acknowledgment.