Newtown & Chilwell will be without Will O’Dwyer for the remainder of the GFNL season after suffering a serious groin injury in the qualifying final loss to Colac.
Scans confirmed O’Dwyer tore the muscle from the bone during the second quarter.
“Which is disappointing for us and for Will, who is having a pretty good year,” Johnson said.
“He did the splits before he had that shot on goal from 50 metres – he felt something.
“And then when he kicked the ball, which only went about 30 metres with the wind, he felt it go.”
Newtown & Chilwell will look to make the most of their double chance when they meet St Mary’s in Sunday’s cutthroat first semi-final at West Oval.
Also missing from last week is Felix Katsaros, who will play reserves, with Alfie Wojcinski recalled and Tom Kiddle to debut.
Kiddle is the son of former Leopold player and local cricket great Rod.
“He’s a natural footballer; he’s had a really good season in the reserves, both playing as a defender and as a forward.
“I’ve been wanting to play him, so he gets an opportunity.
“It’s a final, but I think he’s the type of character that the occasion won’t worry him.”
Johnson says the Towners are aware of some areas they need to tidy up if they’re to progress to a preliminary final.
“You’ve got to play the conditions a bit smarter than what we did,” he said.
“We want to be able to defend the ground a little bit better this week.
“And there were some individual moments which probably weren’t acceptable, which we touched on on Tuesday.”
However, Johnson says they haven’t revisited the 40-point loss to the Saints in Round 18.
“We reviewed that performance after that game, and we felt like we were too easy to play against, and hence why they got out to a 44-point lead,” he said.
“So, we take some learnings from it, but overall, we’ve been disappointing the last couple of weeks.
“I still think that our best footy is capable of matching it with the top teams, but we just need everyone to play a role and understand what makes us a good team.”
St Mary’s, whose reserves are also in action on Sunday, have included Ryan Pendlebury and Sam Christensen in their squad.
The Saints will finalise their team following a Captain’s Run tomorrow morning.
Meanwhile, Colac has been forced into two changes for its second semi-final clash with St Joseph’s.
As reported earlier this week, Jarrod Walters suffered a shoulder injury in the qualifying final win over Newtown & Chilwell that has ended his season.
Joining him on the sidelines is big man Josh Garner.
Garner, who plays Premier Cricket with Geelong, copped a ball to the eye during his follow-through while bowling in the nets at Barwon Regional Cricket Centre on Monday night.
“He’s got heaps of swelling around one side of his face from the cricket ball hitting him,” co-coach Jason Armistead said.
“He looked a lot better on Thursday night than Tuesday night anyway.
“If he keeps improving that way, he should be right next week, I’d imagine, or in two weeks’ time if we’re lucky enough to get there (grand final).”
Midfielder Ben McCarthy returns from a one-match suspension, with Jack Skinner overcoming a minor knee issue.
Joeys, who finished minor premier for the second consecutive year, have named Lewis Antonac and Mitch Chafer in their squad.
Zac Knights is the only confirmed out after breaking his jaw at training last week.
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