Gold Coast is confident Tom Nicholls will bounce back from his posterior cruciate ligament injury, and make a strong impact in the final rounds of the premiership season, according to high performance manager Stephen Schwerdt.
The mobile ruckman successfully underwent surgery on his left knee on Saturday, after club medical staff and specialists determined surgery was the most appropriate course of action for his rehabilitation.
While the club will have to wait patiently for Nicholls to commence his rehab before putting a timeframe on his expected return, Schwerdt is hopeful the talented ruckman would make a comeback before season’s end.
“It’s disappointing for Tommy, he was up and going pretty well until he hurt his knee,” Schwerdt said.
“He had surgery on the weekend and that has gone very well so he is going to be out for an extended period but we are confident we will see him before the end of the season.”
Another of the SUNS’ ruck stocks in Daniel Gorringe also went under the knife last week in a bid to overcome a niggling Achilles complaint.
“Daniel had some trouble with his Achilles and we had been managing it but it got to the stage where we thought it was best to have the surgery,” Schwerdt confirmed.
“It was not a huge operation but it will keep him out of action for six weeks, but that (the surgery) will give him a big chance to getting back late in the season.”
As revealed by goldcoastfc.com.au last week, strong-bodied midfielder Jesse Lonergan suffered a minor hamstring setback.
“Obviously it was disappointing for Jesse given his comeback from a broken wrist, but he is back up and running.
“While he won’t play this week, we are confident he will be chance to return sooner rather than later.”
Karmichael Hunt, Clay Cameron and Kade Kolodjashnij will also be tested by club medical staff, with the latter sustaining a minor knee complaint following the senior team’s round seven victory over North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium.
