AFL 2022: Get the latest injury news from the opening round

Melbourne has revealed the long-term loss of a star defender will have serious ramifications, admitting his form off half back played a huge role in the club’s premiership. All the injury latest.

Melbourne midfielder James Jordon has described star teammate Christian Salem’s injury lay-off as a “massive loss” with no time frame on the defender’s return.

He is likely to be out for the medium-term future after scans revealed he had chipped cartilage in his knee against the Western Bulldogs last Wednesday night.

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He has already undergone surgery, and Jordon said the club would know more about Salem’s return date at a later time.

“He is a massive loss for us,” he said on Triple M.

“What he brings off half-back is one of the best in the league.

“He’s had surgery so we’ll see how we recovers and I don’t think there is any time frame on it, it’s a wait and see for the moment I think.”

Injury latest: Mixed news for Tiger stars as Bont in doubt

Richmond believes Jack Riewoldt will make a speedy return from a broken thumb despite needing surgery on an injury suffered in the shock loss to Carlton.

The Tigers confirmed Riewoldt would need surgery on Friday to fix the fractured thumb suffered early in the defeat against the Blues.

Sydney’s Isaac Heeney suffered a broken thumb last year and missed only a week, with the prognosis much better than a broken scaphoid which can sideline players for a month or more.

Richmond would not speculate about a return but while he is set to miss against GWS in round 2, the Tigers said “the injury is considered to be short term”.

Star midfielder Dion Prestia is likely to miss multiple weeks with yet another hamstring strain after playing only nine games last year with soft-tissue concerns including a calf sprain and multiple hamstring injuries.

Dion Prestia injured his hamstring in the loss to the Blues. Picture: Michael Klein

Melbourne star defender Christian Salem is likely to be out for the medium-term future after scans revealed he had chipped cartilage in his knee against the Western Bulldogs.

Salem’s slashing form off half back last year was one of the key ingredients in the club’s premiership surge but he was dumped in a fair tackle by Marcus Bontempelli in the victory.

While Salem dodged ACL damage he does have chipped cartilage that will need surgery.

The Demons are unsure how long he will be sidelined but players who need meniscus surgery, which fixes torn cartilage, are often sidelined for around 10 weeks.

Demons football boss Alan Richardson said the club was thankful Salem didn’t need ligament surgery.

Christian Salem will require surgery on his knee. Picture: Michael Klein

“He will undergo surgery today to clean up the damage to his cartilage and following the procedure, will commence rehab with our medical team,” he said.

“At the moment we don’t have a specific timeframe for when Christian will return, but we will know more post-op.”

The Demons are hopeful defender Jake Lever will be available to take his spot in the side after tearing his plantar fascia at training.

While the development is good news in the long term players who snap their plantar fascia can still be in pain for some time so he will need to train next week.

Bulldogs captain Bontempelli is not certain to take his place in the Dogs’ side to take on Carlton next week.

Scans confirmed a low-level scan for the star Dog, who rolled his ankle in the third quarter but was able to play out the game with strapping.

“We will work through a process with Marcus into next week to determine his availability to play against the Blues on Thursday night,” head of sports medicine Chris Bell said.

Jason Johannisen, whose late calf injury paved the way for Lachie Hunter to play against Melbourne, will be out for up to three weeks.

Originally published as AFL 2022: Get the latest injury news from the opening round