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InjuryIQ

Richmond vs West Coast Eagles — AFL 2026 Round 21

Round 21

Match details

Home & Away
Round 21
Richmond
vs
West Coast Eagles
—
—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

12Ongoing injuries13
4Long-term (LTI)7
8 dDays' rest9 d
1Games in 21 days1
0 kmLast month air km2,718 km
Squad stabilityRIC 11thWCE 9th 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 (RIC 3, WCE 3).

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 · 1:10pm·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.

RIC
  • Kaleb Smith
    Projected return
    Head/Neck — ConcussionDue this week
  • Luke TrainorDEF
    Projected return
    Head/Neck — ConcussionDue this week
  • Jack RossMID
    Projected return
    Head/Neck — ConcussionDue this week
  • Jayden ShortDEF
    Projected return
    Thigh (other) — Cork/Thigh ContusionDue this week
WCE
  • Malakai ChampionFWD
    Projected return
    Wrist/Hand — Hand FractureDue this week
  • Harry BarnettRUC
    Projected return
    Groin/Hip — Groin StrainDue this week
  • Josh Lindsay
    Projected return
    Quadriceps — Quadriceps 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.

RIC
  • Sam Grljback from systemic/other · 1 game back
  • Dion Prestiaback from hamstring · 1 game back
    Recurrence
    Soft-tissue return — recurrence risk is highest in the first games back.
  • Tom Lynchback from head/neck · 2 games back
  • Harry Armstrongback from foot · 2 games back
    Recurrence
  • Kaleb Smithback from head/neck · 2 games back
  • Judson Clarkeback from knee · 2 games back
WCE
  • Tim Kellyback from hamstring · 2 games backSoft-tissue return — recurrence risk is highest in the first games back.

Current injuries

The confirmed outs for both squads (18 across both), ranked by impact. Players in doubt are listed under Possible returns above.

RIC hold a slight availability edge (13 ongoing injuries to 12); WCE 7 of them long-term.

RIC8 out
  • Jonty FaullFWD
    LTI

    Chest/Torso — Lumbar Stress Fracture

    Long-term
    Due Sep 30
  • Josh GibcusDEF
    LTI

    Knee — Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury

    Long-term
    Injury-proneDue Nov 1
  • Sam LalorFWD
    LTI

    Ankle/Foot — Achilles Tendinopathy

    Severe
    Due this week
  • Josh SmillieMID
    LTI

    Quadriceps — Quadriceps Strain

    Moderate
    Due Aug 1
  • Tom SimsFWD

    Knee — MCL Sprain

    Moderate
    Due this week
  • Campbell GrayDEF

    Hamstring — Hamstring Strain

    Moderate
    Injury-proneDue Aug 5
  • Oliver Hayes-BrownRUC

    Knee — Knee Injury (General)

    Minor
    Injury-proneDue this week
  • Jacob HopperMID

    Ankle/Foot — Ankle Injury (General)

    Minor
    Due Aug 1

Signals

  • 1recurrence
  • 2awaiting diagnosis
  • 5durability-fragile
  • Body regions:
    • Head/Neck3
    • Knee3
    • Ankle/Foot2
  • What they lose: 4 defenders, 3 midfielders, 3 forwards, 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.