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InjuryIQ

Melbourne vs Geelong Cats — AFL 2026 Round 20

Round 20

Match details

Home & Away
Round 20
Melbourne
vs
Geelong Cats
—
—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

8Ongoing injuries7
4Long-term (LTI)2
6 dDays' rest8 d
2Games in 21 days1
441 kmLast month air km771 km
Squad stabilityMEL 16thGEE 12th 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 (MEL 1, GEE 2).

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.
Fri 24 July · 7:40pm·Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
State
VIC
Surface
Natural grass
Roof
Open roof
Capacity
100,024

Possible returns

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

MEL
  • Harrison PettyFWD
    Projected return
    Hamstring — Hamstring StrainDue this week
GEE
  • Jack Henry
    In contention
    Head/Neck — Neck Injury (General)Due today
  • Mark O'ConnorDEF
    In contention
    Quadriceps — Quadriceps StrainDue today

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.

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.
GEE

Current injuries

The confirmed outs for both squads (12 across both), ranked by impact. Players in doubt are listed under Possible returns above.

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

MEL7 out
  • Brody Mihocek
    LTI

    Head/Neck — Unstable Cervical Fracture

    Long-term
    In rehab
    Due Oct 1
  • Andy Moniz-WakefieldDEF
    LTI

    Knee — ACL Tear

    Long-term
    Injury-proneDue Feb 27, 2027
  • Jai CulleyMID
    LTI

    Knee — ACL Tear

    Long-term
    Injury-proneDue Feb 1, 2027
  • Jack VineyMID
    LTI

    Ankle/Foot — Achilles Tendinopathy

    Severe
    Due Aug 15
  • Xavier LindsayMID

    Groin/Hip — Groin Strain

    Moderate
    Due Jul 26
  • Bayley FritschFWD
    Recurrence

    Wrist/Hand — Hand/Wrist Injury (General)

    Minor
    IronmanDue this week
  • Max HeathRUC

    Shoulder — Shoulder Injury (General)

    Minor
    Injury-proneDue this week

Signals

  • 2recurrences
  • 2awaiting diagnosis
  • 3durability-fragile
  • Body regions: 2× knee
  • What they lose: 3 midfielders, 2 forwards, 1 defender, 1 ruckman

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.