Defender Trent McKenzie has been ruled out for the rest of 2016 after suffering a groin injury in the final quarter of the reserves’ 113-point win against Redland on Sunday.
The foundation SUN will finish the year stranded on 99 AFL games but will be ready for day one of the 2017 pre-season.
“He was best on ground up until the time he hurt himself,” GM – Football Operations, Marcus Ashcroft, told the Optomo Injury Report.
“He won’t play over the last month but I think the positive in all that is that it’s not a significant injury and he’ll be right to resume first day back at pre-season.”
Fellow defender Nick Malceski will miss at least one week with a flare-up of a knee injury against the Demons.
“Unfortunately for ‘Mal’ his knee’s been getting sorer and sorer over the last few weeks and on the weekend he aggravated it some more,” Ashcroft said.
“So on the advice of our medical team it was to have at least a week, to two weeks off so he’ll be assessed after this week but early indications are he’ll miss the next two weeks and be available the week after that.”
Powerhouse midfielder Jesse Lonergan is listed as a test on this week’s injury list, with a shoulder injury placing the Tasmanian in some doubt for Saturday’s clash against GWS.
“Jesse hurt his shoulder in the game on Sunday. Had a tough time of it, also had stitches in his eye and got a couple of head knocks,” Ashcroft said.
“But they’re all okay, it’s more his shoulder that we’re worried about. He’ll be assessed as the week goes on and we’ll make a call by the end of the week.”
Meanwhile, Jaeger O’Meara appears unlikely to play in the NEAFL this weekend with the club and player taking it one week at a time.
“Unlikely for this weekend. For Jaeger it’s a weekly assessment,” Ashcroft said.
“We want to make sure long term that we do the right thing by Jaeger amongst the consultation with our medical team, our doctor and with other surgeons who have looked at his knee in the past.
“So we’ll look through all of the information that’s been gathered this week and make an assessment week-on-week but at this stage you wouldn’t have thought Jaeger would play this weekend.”
Adam Saad played a half in the NEAFL and is set for a full game in this week’s curtain raiser before being considered for senior selection, while Ashcroft was pleased by the return of Darcy Macpherson and the continued emergence of Brayden Fiorini as both come back from respective knee injuries.
Optomo Injury Update: Round 20
Trent McKenzie has been ruled out for the rest of 2016 after suffering a groin injury in the NEAFL.
