Eagles’ Joe Sinor has surgery after breaking a leg in SANFL trial win over Port Adelaide

Woodville-West Torrens will be without Joe Sinor, who emerged as an elite player in the SANFL last year, for up to 12 weeks after he broke a leg in a trial against Port Adelaide.

Joseph Sinor. Picture: Sarah Reed.

WOODVILLE-West Torrens has been dealt a huge setback after last year’s best and fairest winner Joe Sinor broke his left leg in a trial against Port Adelaide at Noarlunga Oval last Friday night.

Sinor had surgery to pin the bone yesterday and is expected to miss up to 12 weeks of action.

He also damaged the ligaments in his ankle in the third-quarter incident when his leg was caught under a Port player in a tackle.

“It is disappointing for the club, but gut-wrenching for Joe,” Eagles football manager Luke Powell said. “Joe has become an elite player in the league and had such a strong pre-season.

“He is such a good kid and has been real upbeat about the situation. He has had a few long-term injuries before and the next day after breaking his leg he knew what he needed to do.

“He had such a good season last year, trained all pre-season and gets that - it is frustrating for him.”

After almost quitting the SANFL in 2016 when frustrated with a lack of opportunities, Sinor’s role was altered last year and he played in all 20 games for the Eagles.

Such was his emergence as a significant member of the Eagles line-up, he was named in The Advertiser Team of the Year and earned the SANFL Breakthrough Player award.

“We were primed for him to have a great year and we still think he will,” Powell said. “He has a lot of fitness base behind him and in the second half of the year we expect him to have an influence.”

The Eagles will also be without highly talented midfielder Jared Petrenko for the early rounds because of media and television commitments.

There is uncertainty over how many games he will be miss, but the club is hoping it will be only three or four.

And experienced defenders Luke Thompson and Patrick Giuffreda will again be co-captains after the Eagles announced their appointments yesterday.

The Eagles beat Port by 47 points in the trial.

The trials continue tonight when West Adelaide and Norwood do battle at Richmond Oval.

There are three trials tomorrow with Glenelg meeting North Adelaide at Richmond Oval, South Adelaide will host the Eagles at Noarlunga and Central District, coming off a sloppy effort against the Tigers, is at home to Sturt.