Mackenzie Willis will miss the remainder of the 2018 season with an ACL injury, after going down in the second quarter of the SUNS Round 8 NEAFL loss.  

Alex Rigby, Rehabilitation Manager, confirmed to the Alpha Sport Injury Update Willis would undergo surgery in the coming days.

“He’s had a fantastic season to date so it’s terrible news,” Rigby said.

“Will obviously look to have surgery towards the back end of the week and then we’ll undergo a pretty extensive rehab program and will obviously miss the remainder of the season. 

Josh Jaska, drafted to the SUNS at Pick 2 in the 2017 NAB AFL Rookie Draft, also suffered a hamstring injury as a result of the NEAFL game.

“Josh had a little bit of hamstring soreness coming out of the game on the weekend and due to his age and the amount of games he’s played this year we’re taking a precautionary approach.  

“He’ll obviously miss this weekend and will be available for selection post bye.”

Academy product Jesse Joyce was ruled out of the SUNS Round 8 match with a corked quad late last week, and a conservative approach will be taken with his rehabilitation.

“He’s progressing really well- given the state of injury that he had into his quad he’s undergoing a pretty extensive program at the moment and will be available for selection following the bye.”

SUNS veterans Matt Rosa and Michael Barlow are each listed as tests for the coming week, with a view they will be available for selection should they continue to train strongly.

“Both boys trained really well yesterday and have gone through all of their rehab processes and ticked all the boxes,”

“They’ll be a test but they’re obviously very likely to play on the weekend.”


To see the full injury list, click here.