The nine finals selection headaches for Carlton and who they “cannot afford” to risk

Carlton has somehow stumbled its way into the top eight, despite having not beaten a team outside of the bottom four since the middle of June.

But they’re in and now they have some significant selection headaches in front of them ahead of their Elimination Final clash with Brisbane.

Charlie Curnow, Tom De Koning, Harry McKay, Adam Cerra, Mitch McGovern, Jack Martin, Jordan Boyd, Caleb Marchbank and even maybe Sam Docherty could all be available for selection.

Curnow and McGovern are likely locks given they were late outs for Round 24, while they will be hoping De Koning and McKay are available given their injury timelines.

Docherty has been pushing to play in September off his torn ACL, but would clearly be a significant risk.

If everyone is available, what do they do? How many changes is too many and who isn’t worth the risk?

Nathan Buckley says he would not risk anybody with soft tissue issues, subsequently putting a line through Cerra and Martin at the very least.

The former Collingwood coach also believes they have to ensure they can maintain the high-pressure style that has kept them competitive across the last fortnight.

“How fit are they going to be? You’ve got Curnow, McKay, Williams – where do they sit? I don’t think you take any soft tissue risk going into this game. You cannot afford to. So Adam Cerra, Jack Martin’s too much of a risk … then there’s Tom De Koning. Mitch McGovern, you probably roll the dice,” Buckley told SEN Breakfast.

“Sam Docherty? From the clouds? Jordan Boyd’s been a mainstay.

“What they’ve been able to do is the balance of teamsmanship and the fact they have bought into high-end pressure.

“The last eight quarters for the most part it looks a bit more like they did last year in their finals run. When you’re looking at who’s coming in, you’ve got to ask who’s going to maintain that. You can’t bring anyone in who won’t keep fierce pressure on the opposition.

“They’ve also got two weeks to get up and about and if they can match their talent with the work-rate of the last two weeks, they’re not without a shot.”

Carlton may be without small forward Matt Owies, who will likely face MRO scrutiny for a tackle on St Kilda’s Jack Higgins.

For the first time in weeks, the Blues finished a game of footy, seemingly, without an injury.