Emerging midfielder Brayden Fiorini will be sidelined for an extended period after rupturing the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee during the second quarter of Gold Coast’s NEAFL game on Saturday at Yeronga.
The No. 20 draft pick from last year’s national draft will consult a surgeon on Wednesday to determine the most suitable rehabilitation approach.
“Brayden has a nasty incident in a tackle on Saturday,” GC SUNS head physiotherapist Adam Russell told the Optomo Injury Report.
“He had an MRI scan yesterday which has shown that he’s got an unusual injury. He’s actually ruptured the lateral ligament of his knee, which is the one on the outside.
“He’s going down to see the surgeon tomorrow and tentatively booked in for surgery Thursday so we’ll probably know a bit more about his management after that.”
Vice-captain Dion Prestia appeared in some discomfort after suffering a blow to his shoulder in Saturday’s QClash and will need to prove his fitness at Thursday’s main training session.
“He copped a bit of a blow on that (shoulder),” Russell said.
“So he’s had a scan and everything’s looking okay. We’ll just take it easy with him early in the week and he’ll be assessed on Thursday after our training session.”
In positive news for the club, midfielder Jaeger O’Meara is running well on the grass after undergoing an arthroscopic surgery in February as he looks to make a long-awaited comeback from a ruptured patella tendon.
“A real positive for Jaeger,” Russell said.
“Alex Rigby [Rehab Manager] and Lindsay Bull [Physiotherapist] have done a fantastic job in getting him back so this is the second week he’s been running on the grass.
“He spent another two weeks before that running on the AlterG so he’s coming along nicely so hopefully we’ll see him back sooner rather than later.”
