Essendon star Joe Daniher says claims he was hiding something about calf injury are off the mark
Essendon forward Joe Daniher has dismissed suggestions he wasn’t telling the real story about his recent calf tear, saying he took no notice of former Saint Nick Riewoldt’s comments about the incident, declaring it “bizarre”.
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Injured Essendon forward Joe Daniher has dismissed suggestions he wasn’t telling the real story about his recent calf tear, saying he took no notice of former Saint Nick Riewoldt’s questioning of the incident.
Riewoldt this week described Daniher’s explanation of his injury as “bizarre”, saying he couldn’t recall anyone missing six weeks with a kick to the calf, which Daniher insisted he suffered at training last week.
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It comes as James Stewart — his likely replacement against Greater Western Sydney — is battling groin soreness that is expected to sideline him from the match.
Stewart and part-time ruckman Shaun McKernan were both options to play in the forward line in Daniher’s absence.
The Dons will hope McKernan and Jake Stringer can help bring the ball to ground for their small forwards, with Orazio Fantasia set to fill a huge role despite an interrupted pre-season.
Daniher, 25, maintained the kick to the calf by a teammate he preferred not to name caused the “little (calf) tear”, flatly rejecting suggestions he may have damaged the groin that restricted him to only seven games last year.
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“As a footballer, I don’t too much time listening to the media or worrying about stories,” Daniher said at the Kayo Sports’ launch of the 2019 AFL season where every AFL round will be streamed live.
“My focus is about getting back as quickly as possible and focusing on my rehab.”
Asked to detail what happened on the Tullamarine training track last week, Daniher said: “The incident occurred early in training and it was a little bit tighter as the session went on. I had never done a calf, so I don’t know what they feel like.
“I thought it would be fine, but left it to the next day and spoke to our (medical) team. They had a look at it and unfortunately there was a little tear in it.”
He won’t name the player who inadvertently kicked him other than to say: “He will be playing this week and I am very excited for him and looking forward to him having a big impact for the club.”
Daniher faces up to six weeks on the sidelines, but won’t predict a date for his AFL return as he works on a timetable with Essendon medical staff.
“It will probably be 12 days of no running and when I start running it will all be about ticking some boxes and then getting back to the main group two weeks after that,” he said.
“It’s a little bit frustrating about not being out there in Round 1, but I’ll be back as soon as I possibly can.
“That (time out) will give me the opportunity to fine tune the footy stuff that I have been working on.”
Originally published as Essendon star Joe Daniher says claims he was hiding something about calf injury are off the mark
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