AFL news: All the latest injury updates for 2021 pre-season

Jack Gunston says his recovery from back surgery has been a “slow process” and revealed the likely timeline he’ll follow before playing in 2021.

Carlton says they’ll look to bulk Patrick Cripps up for the 2021 season. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Reigning Hawthorn best and fairest Jack Gunston says he is searching for “little wins along the way” as he continues a lengthy recovery from back surgery.

Gunston remains in the Hawks’ rehabilitation group, almost a month after surgery to repair a bulging disk.

He will not join the club’s main training group for at least another month and will miss the start of the regular season but is progressing well.

“With back’s you’ve got to be pretty careful and take things pretty slow,” Gunston said.

“So at the moment I’m just strolling around the oval and watching the boys train and I’m just starting to get on the bike now. It’s going to be a slow process but I’m looking forward to feeling better and being 100 per cent when I do get out there.”

Gunston said while it was tough watching on as teammates got into the thick of pre-season training, he was hopeful of joining them in the not-too-distant future.

“Hopefully I’ll be out training in a month, six weeks or so and getting out there and running around,” he said.

“In terms of the footy side of things it will take a bit longer, but you just look for the little wins along the way and watch the boys go through their work in pre-season.”

A shining light for the Hawks in a difficult 2020 season, Gunston kicked 31 goals from 16 games.

Jack Gunston is facing a delayed start to the 2021 season.

CRIPPS’ PLANS OVERHAULED AFTER SHOULDER SURGERY

Carlton has altered its training approach for co-captain and star midfielder Patrick Cripps as fitness staff focus on bulking up his strength after shoulder surgery.

Having played hurt throughout the 2020 season, Cripps underwent a reconstruction on his left shoulder in September after suffering three “instability episodes” during the year.

Carlton said Cripps, who managed to play every game for the Blues last season, was now back to doing 95 per cent of the pre-season training load following the surgery.

Blues co-captain Sam Docherty takes a breather during training.

But after tailoring Cripps’ training last year to make him lighter to improve his run, Carlton’s director of high performance Andrew Russell said the focus had returned to building up the midfield ace’s strength this pre-season.

“(He) is 17 weeks post surgery so if we’re playing a game, he’d probably be playing next week,” Russell said.

“He’s moving really well, he’s basically doing 95 per cent of the training now, so he’s in great shape.

“He’s had a fantastic off-season, he worked hard on his body strength, we tried to make him a bit lighter last year and get his run up but we’ve gone back to making him strong.”

Fellow co-captain Sam Docherty has made an earlier than expected return to the ball program after a health scare and off-season ankle procedure.

Docherty underwent surgery to remove a malignant testicular tumour in early November after discovering a cancerous lump.

The Blues confirmed at the time the surgery had been a success and the 27-year-old was expected to make a full recovery.

“Doc’s progressing really well, we’re really pleased with the way he’s going,” Russell said.

“He’s back into the ball program a little earlier than we expected, he’s probably three weeks away from doing everything in the ball program, but his body is adapting well.

“He’s had two years where he’s really pushed his body hard, one to get back from the ACLs and then a season of footy so I actually think it might be to his advantage that he’s done a little bit less in pre season and in the back half, he’ll do everything.”

The Blues did not provide a detailed update on luckless forward Charlie Curnow, other than he continued to progress through his rehab after undergoing more surgery to stabilise a stress injury in his patella in November.

Russell expected veteran small forward Eddie Betts to miss a couple of weeks of training after suffering a calf injury last week.

Eddie Betts watches training from the sidelines while on the exercise bike. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“Eddie’s got a low grade calf, it’s going to affect him for a week or two,” Russell said.

“It’s in exactly the same spot as last year except on the other leg but it’s a lot less than last year. He’ll get back and be in good shape before we know it.”

Defender Nic Newman is expected to return to full training in about a month after rupturing his patella tendon last June.

“Newy’s knee is going well, it takes a long time to get strength back in that leg after you’ve had such a significant injury,” Russell said.

“He’s still got a bit of work to do on that quad strength, glute strength and calf strength on that side but he’s progressing, he’s doing some skills. Anywhere in the next three, four, five weeks he’ll be back doing full skills. He may be ready for Round 1 but he may not, but it won’t be too far away if he isn’t ready for Round 1.”

Originally published as AFL news: All the latest injury updates for 2021 pre-season