Carlton’s Scott Jamison to be Fit For Finals

Carlton are hopeful key defender Scott Jamison will be fit in time for the finals after it was revealed that his knee injury was not as severe as first thought.

Jamison tore the meniscus in his knee a fortnight ago against West Coast and Blues officials feared he may have been forced out for the remainder of the season, however they know believe he will be back in time to gain some match fitness before the finals roll around.

The club now expects Jamison to be fully recovered by around round 20.

“We are confident he will be back within four to six weeks,” said Carlton general manager Steven Icke.

Jamison was in All-Australian form before the injury, and his absence leaves a big hole in the Carlton defence.

The man charged with filling that hole has been forward Lachie Henderson. Henderson was switched to defence for the first time in his career against Richmond, and he did an admirable job, breaking square with reigning Coleman medallist Jack Riewoldt.

“Playing as a forward you know what you hate having a defender do on you so I just tried to work from that and annoy him (Riewoldt) as much as possible,” Henderson said.

“But the boys played really well at the weekend, the press was in full swing and I didn’t have to do a whole lot which was nice.”

Henderson will be in for a tougher task this week when the Blues face off against an improving Western Bulldogs side. Henderson will most likely be given the job on Bulldogs forward Barry Hall, who looked to be back in form last week, taking six marks and kicking three goals.

Another player who may find himself at the opposite end of the ground this week is Collingwood’s Chris Tarrant.

The Magpies are looking for another forward option after it was confirmed that Chris Dawes will be out for a month with a broken knuckle.

However Tarrant looks to be a ready-made replacement. In his first stint at Collingwood he was a key forward and managed to top the Magpies goal scoring in five seasons.

“He kicked a few goals earlier in the season and he looked pretty pumped,” said Collingwood defender Alan Toovey.

“But the way he’s been playing down back, I hope he wouldn’t go up there. It’s been good playing next to him down deep in defence.”

Moving Tarrant forward could also mean Collingwood youngster Lachlan Keefe could earn his debut.

“If he got his chance he’d definitely be ready,” Toovey said.

“He’s been an emergency a fair few times this year and been playing really good VFL footy. If a defender went forward he would be looked at.”

Collingwood meet North Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.