SUNS forward Sarah Perkins is expected to be sidelined for eight to 10 weeks as she recovers from an MCL injury in her right knee.
Perkins had a heavy collision in the second quarter of the match at Mineral Resources Park on the weekend, with scans this week confirming damage to the 27-year-old’s MCL in her right knee, as reported by SUNS Media yesterday.
“At halftime we assessed Sarah and applied some strapping tape and then she was able to get through a fitness test,” AFLW Head Physiotherapist Aaron Duffy told the Qscan Injury Update.
“She attempted to play on, but was unable to and therefore could not complete the game.
“Once we got back here to the Gold Coast she had some scans yesterday which confirmed a moderate-grade MCL injury… we expect her rehab to take eight to 10 weeks which therefore makes her unavailable for the remainder of the season.”
First-year forward Maddison Levi has also been ruled out for this weekend’s game after hyper-extending her knee in the match against West Coast.
Duffy said the 18-year-old reported soreness after the match and was subsequently sent for an MRI scan this week.
“The good news is that scan has excluded any serious injury,” Duffy said.
“We’ll monitor her this week in terms of the swelling and the soreness but she’ll be unavailable for the weekend.”
Midfielder Georgia Bevan also sustained an injury to her shin during the game and Duffy said she would be a test for Round 6.
“(Georgia) was assessed and with some strapping tape was able to finish the game,” he said.
“She was quite sore after the game though so we’ll continue to monitor her during the week and at this stage she’s a test for the weekend.”
Leah Kaslar was a late out for the match in Perth with a rolled ankle but is recovering well and is a test for the match against Adelaide.
“We did everything we could to try to make her available for the game but early on Sunday morning it was decided that she was unable to play,” Duffy said.
“She’s progressed nicely since we’ve come back to the Gold Coast but at this stage she’s still a test for the weekend.”
In positive news, Emma Pittman has progressed to the next stage of her ACL rehabilitation and is back in full training with the rest of the squad.
She is expected to train over the coming weeks and play in some match practice before being considered for selection.
