Adelaide Crows track watch: Scans confirm Wayne Milera suffered another pre-season hamstring injury
Scans have confirmed one of Adelaide’s most vital pieces will be sitting out a chunk of their pre-season, after re-injuring his hamstring on Monday.
AFL
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Dashing defender Wayne Milera will spend the next two to three weeks on the sidelines after scans confirmed that he suffered another hamstring injury this pre-season.
Adelaide sent Milera for scans on Monday after he reported soreness in his right hamstring during training at West Lakes.
Milera missed some sessions for the Crows prior to Christmas with an injury to the same hamstring.
While he was able to do a gym session on Monday, including leg weights, it was decided that the 26-year-old should get the hamstring scanned that evening.
On Tuesday the Crows announced that Milera had re-injured his hamstring and would spend the next fortnight recovering.
Adelaide high performance manager Darren Burgess said it was expected Milera would be back in main training in two to three weeks.
“He will commence his rehabilitation straight away and we won’t take any risks, so he won’t play in the internal trial on February 16, but we expect him to be available for the practice games against Port Adelaide or West Coast,” Burgess said.
The Crows’ internal trial will be held in Port Lincoln, where they are having their community camp.
The interrupted pre-season for Milera comes after he played 22 games last season, a welcome sight for the talented 26-year-old who has struggled with injuries throughout his career.
He played just two games across 2020 and 2021 after foot and knee injuries.
He has become a key weapon for the Crows off half-back after being used around the ground in the early stages of his career at West Lakes.
Speedy defender Patrick Parnell, who could be a beneficiary of the Milera injury, has been training with a non-contact hat on after hurting his shoulder in the gym.
Nick Murray is ahead of schedule in his recovery from an ACL injury, while Harry Schoenberg is back running after a torn Achilles suffered in the final game of 2023.
ALL THE LATEST CROWS NEWS FROM TRACK WATCH
CURTIN CALL
■ The Crows received some positive news around prized draftee Dan Curtin. The eighth pick of the 2023 draft has been away from the main group in recent weeks after he jarred his knee.
He remained on the sidelines on Monday at West Lakes, but the key defender clocked up 7km of running. Curtin is set to be integrated back into main training as early as Wednesday, with Friday’s session considered the latest, as he pushes for a Round 1 debut.
SLOANE SWITCH
■ Rory Sloane was used on the wing for the Crows last year but could a new position be on the cards for the former captain in 2024? While the Crows mixed up their group for their match simulation rather than a strictly defined probables against possibles there were a number of positional changes that caught the eye. Sloane playing off half-back was one of these as the former captain went into defence to end the session.
CENTRE OF ATTENTION
■ Josh Rachele spent a fair bit of time during the midfield in the match sim. More midfield time is seen as the next evolution of the exciting young gun and the Crows did throw him into centre bounces to start the 2023 campaign. But this was scrapped as the season went on, so whether Rachele can find himself back on the ball at times will be a big watch for the Crows.
TAYLOR WATCH
■ Young midfielder Zac Taylor might be one to watch for the Crows. On two occasions during the last two pre-seasons Taylor has seriously struggled with a running drill. But the 44th pick in the 2021 draft impressed on Monday as he pushes for an AFL debut in 2024
■ Key defender Nick Murray is tracking very well as he returns from an ACL injury. While he didn’t take part in match sim, Murray was involved in all the other drills on Monday and was moving well. He is considered to be progressing very well in his comeback.
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