Geelong champion Gary Ablett has offered to mentor Gold Coast young gun Matt Rowell through his shoulder injury after the rising SUN suffered a setback on Saturday.
The No.1 pick and red-hot NAB AFL Rising Star favourite will undergo scans in coming days after dislocating his shoulder against the Cats at GMHBA Stadium. The Suns are unsure of the injury's severity.
The 19-year-old sensation, who has been voted best afield in the AFL Coaches' Association's player of the year award the past three games, landed on his right arm in a heavy tackle from Cat Brandan Parfitt in the first quarter and sat out the rest of the game with his arm in a sling.
Ablett, who endured serious shoulder injuries in the latter stages of his career at Gold Coast before returning to the Cats, spoke to the five-game sensation after Geelong's 37-point win.
"Obviously I've had a couple of shoulder reconstructions myself so I just asked him how his shoulder was," said Ablett, who celebrated his milestone 350th game with a long goal in the last term.
"He doesn't know at the moment and is going to have to get a scan so [I'm] hoping it's not too bad.
"But I said to him once he gets the results if he wants to give me a call and talk through things I can let him know what worked for me and what didn't.
"You hate seeing injuries like that so hopefully it's not too bad and we can see him back on the park in a couple of weeks."
Suns coach Stuart Dew said Rowell will be a part of the 29-player group that heads to Sydney on Saturday night to set up base for at least the next two weeks as Gold Coast prepares for its next block of games.
"He'll need a scan. He was trying to go back on but we'll get it looked at. He'll come with us to New South Wales and we'll go from there," Dew said.
"It's always hard to tell [if it's serious]. He's probably not a great gauge because he said it didn't feel too bad but any shoulder that pops out is going to be a bit sore so we'll see what the damage is there."
The Suns said they were mindful of the teenager's inexperience when considering if they should test the injury again during the Cats clash.
"Absolutely he was coming back on, he wanted to, but it's the right call by the medical department. Regardless of what happened, for a 19-year-old, it's the right call for him," Dew said.
Rowell, who was the No.1 pick at last year's NAB AFL Draft, entered the clash having averaged 21 disposals and booted six goals in his first four games at AFL level.
The Cats' victory was the first time in more than 12 months they have registered back-to-back wins.
They will take a full list to their Sydney hub, with coach Chris Scott saying his side will be ready to face Brisbane next week off a five-day break.
"We're going to take all of our players as it stands right at the moment, but we just need to think through it," he said.
"We're up for it. It's not to diminish the challenge that everyone's facing, but I got the strong feeling back in March that our club was up for it."
