Western Bulldogs ruckman Jordan Roughead will spend his day in a dark room and may not train this week but he appears extremely likely to be fit to play in next Saturday's grand final.
Bleeding in the eye has subsided rapidly and the Bulldogs are privately confident he will be fully recovered in time for the decider, their first in 55 years.
And Lin Jong, who cracked his collar bone in the elimination final win over West Coast two weeks ago, proved his fitness and his form in emphatic fashion winning the Norm Goss medal for his 29-touch best-on-ground effort in Footscray's VFL grand final win over Casey.
Like Jong, Roughead has improved faster than initially expected. The bleeding in his right eye from a ball kicked in his face at close range in the preliminary final win over the Giants on Saturday night had reduced by half by the end of the match. The rate of improvement encouraged doctors that he would be fit for this week.
Opthalmologist Dr Andrew Atkins, who examined the young ruckman on Sunday morning, said it remained unknown if he would recover in time for the grand final.
Roughead has been diagnosed with a hyphema of the right eye, which involves bleeding in the front chamber of the eye, between the cornea and the iris.
"It's a week away, so I don't know at this stage. There won't be any permanent damage to the eye, which is obviously good news, but it's too early to know if he'll be right for next week. We'll just have to wait," Dr Atkins said.
Roughead said it was unclear if he would be able to train this week and rest was the doctors' orders.
"We'll go through that in the next few days and see how it settles and make sure we look after the eye first," he told Channel Seven.
"Sit in a dark room for today. No movies. We'll try and keep off the screens."
Matt Suckling missed the GWS clash with an Achilles injury, but match-up issues with the Giants' three tall forwards also came into play, meaning Fletcher Roberts came in. Roberts did well on Jeremy Cameron but the Swans' forward set up is different with Sydney focusing on two key talls in Lance Franklin and Kurt Tippett.
Like Suckling, Jong will be an interesting selection issue for the Dogs this week after playing onball for the game in the VFL and being best on ground. The Swans have a big midfield and Jong's's extra size could be important.
"I was pretty devastated I assumed the worst but after the op it was pretty good news and so to come here and win a flag with Footscray words cannot describe it," Jong said.
"I had to get through and test the shoulder out. I was not concerned my only priority was to just play well and win the cup.
"I would be lying if I said I didn't have a concern at the start but we did the right fitness test and everything and got through it and everything worked out."
Like Charlie Sutton before him Jong tried to fool the Casey opposition with his left shoulder strapped up and no strapping on the right shoulder which suffered the injury and required surgery.
"I can't remember which shoulder it was sorry," he said laughing. "Maybe it worked, I think they felt a bit sorry for me they started hitting my right so we will see how we go next time."
Interestingly, the Dogs convincingly defeated Casey who had been the best side for the year and finished the season top side of the ladder. Sydney also finished top of the ladder.
Injured Captain Bob Murphy was in the rooms with the entire Western Bulldogs list and coach Luke Beveridge enjoying the Dogs' win. Beveridge's son had also played earlier in the Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup side's grand final win.
