The Gold Coast SUNS casualty ward is mounting by the week with a fresh influx of players suffering injuries in Saturday night’s QClash against the Brisbane Lions.
Jack Martin, Seb Tape and Jarrod Garlett will all miss this weekend, while utility Alex Sexton is also under an injury cloud ahead of the SUNS round six clash with the Adelaide Crows.
Injuries have decimated Rodney Eade’s side in the early stages of 2015, with four of the SUNS' most influential players – Gary Ablett, Jaeger O’Meara, David Swallow and Nick Malceski – all unavailable for selection due to injuries of varying degrees.
With Gold Coast getting their season back on track with a strong performance against the Lions, the latest injury news is far from ideal for a side trying to mount an early season revival after a winless opening month.
Excitement machine Martin has succumbed to a persistent ankle injury that he has carried throughout the early part of the season and will now miss the next fortnight.
“Jack Martin’s had an ankle issue for a number of weeks now. He hurt it a little more on the weekend, he’s in a position now where we can’t continue to play him at the minute because it’s just getting sorer and sorer and it will compromise him for the rest of the year,” GC SUNS rehabilitation coach Matthew Kennedy told goldcoastfc.com.au on Tuesday.
“He’s just going to need a couple of weeks for that to settle. We’re hopeful that we can get him back and ready to go in a couple of weeks. It’s just one of those things, it just needs to settle.”
The news is not quite as bad for defender Tape, who has avoided serious damage to his knee. Tape will miss at least two weeks, but it could have been far worse with Kennedy and the medical staff relieved by the result.
“Seb Tape was a pretty good result if you could call it that. We thought the worse when we first saw it happen,” Kennedy said.
“He’s done his MCL (medial collateral ligament) so we’re thinking, without being too specific, four to five weeks would see him through that rehab and back to return. All in all a good result given his history with his knees.”
Sexton injured the AC joint in his shoulder, but will be given every opportunity to prove his fitness ahead of Saturday night’s clash with the Crows.
“Sexton had an incident in a contest and unfortunately hurt his AC. It’s very, very painful and inflamed, but he is every chance to get up,” Kennedy said.
“We’re hopeful by later in the week the pain will diminish. He’s got good range in his shoulder so we’re pretty hopeful that he will come up and play this weekend.”
Optomo Injury Report: Round Six
The Gold Coast SUNS casualty ward is mounting by the week with a fresh influx of players suffering injuries in Saturday night’s QClash.
