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InjuryIQ

Port Adelaide vs Melbourne — AFL 2026 Round 23

Round 23

Match details

Home & Away
Round 23
Port Adelaide
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

11Ongoing injuries8
8Long-term (LTI)4
Last month air km
Squad stabilityPTA 2ndMEL 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 (PTA 2, 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.
Mon 10 Aug · Time TBC·Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
State
SA
Surface
Natural grass
Roof
Open roof
Capacity
53,583

Possible returns

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

PTAno possible returns
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.

PTA
MEL

Current injuries

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

MEL carry the cleaner bill of health — PTA enter with 11 ongoing injuries to MEL's 8, 8 of them long-term.

PTA11 out
  • Mani LiddyMID
    LTI

    Groin/Hip — Hip Labral Tear

    Long-term
    Due Mar 1, 2027
  • Esava RatugoleaDEF
    LTI

    Knee — Knee Injury (General)

    Long-term
    FragileDue Jun 20, 2027
  • Ewan MackinlayMID
    LTI

    Knee — MCL Sprain

    Long-term
    Due Oct 1
  • Ollie LordDEF
    LTI

    Knee — ACL Tear

    Long-term
    Injury-proneDue Oct 1
  • Josh SinnDEF
    LTI

    Shoulder — Labral Tear

    Long-term
    Injury-proneDue Oct 1
  • Sam Powell-PepperMID
    LTI
    Recurrence

    Knee — Knee Injury (General)

    Long-term
    Due Oct 1
  • Zak ButtersMID
    LTI

    Ankle/Foot — High Ankle Sprain

    Severe
    Due Sep 5
  • Connor RozeeDEF
    LTI

    Hamstring — Hamstring Tendon Injury

    Severe
    Due Sep 30
  • Mitch GeorgiadesFWD

    Head/Neck — Concussion

    Minor
    Due Jul 26
  • Lachie JonesDEF

    Chest/Torso — Rib Contusion

    Minor
    Due Jul 26
  • Tom CochraneMID
    Recurrence

    Hamstring — Hamstring Strain

    Minor
    Due Jul 25

Signals

  • 2recurrences
  • 1awaiting diagnosis
  • 3durability-fragile
  • Body regions:
    • Knee4
    • Hamstring2
  • What they lose: 5 defenders, 5 midfielders, 1 forward

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.