Pav's night over from elbow
On Tuesday night, Ross Lyon told Channel 7 the club captain was unlikely to play after failing a cognitive test.
But the Freo senior coach revealed on Wednesday morning Pavlich had passed the same test a day later.
“He’s had his cog state (test) and passed it, so now I’m preparing for him to play,” Lyon said.
“From here, there’s no reason he shouldn’t play as long as he doesn’t get symptomatic later in the week.
“It’s a roller coaster ride, isn’t it?”
Lyon dismissed claims from the media that Pavlich had sustained a concussion in the game against St Kilda before the bye.
He said the AFL was ‘world-best practice’ when it came to concussion.
“We treat all our players with the utmost care, we’ve got a real responsibility,” Lyon said.
“We’re very good, the AFL. We’ve got super-qualified doctors.”
The Freo senior coach said the club’s doctor Ken Withers would not allow Pavlich to play if he was not 100 per cent right.
“Matthew Pavlich is like a son to Dr Ken Withers,” Lyon said.
“He’s been here 16 years with him, so I’d suggest he would be on the conservative side if anything.
“If he’s cleared him to play, I’m really confident Matthew will play."
Lyon said Pavlich would train and be selected on Thursday, but added the club would take precautions.
“We’ll take emergencies, we always take a couple of travelling emergencies,” he said.
“If there needs to be a late change, we’ll make it.”
