EFNL Division 1 2024: Montrose’s Ryan Garthwaite escapes serious foot injury

Montrose is breathing easier after “a little bit of luck” on the injury front, following a bruising loss on Saturday. Latest here.

Montrose star Ryan Garthwaite has been cleared of a break in his foot. (Photo by Josh Chadwick)

Montrose is breathing a sigh of relief after its star forward was cleared of a serious foot injury.

Former AFL Tiger and Eastern league Division 1 leading goalkicker Ryan Garthwaite exited the field at three-quarter time in Saturday’s eight-point loss to Park Orchards.

The 26-year-old is a runaway leader on the goalkicking table having bagged 56 majors from 13 matches – but failed to hit the scoreboard for the first time this season on the weekend.

Speaking to this masthead on Tuesday morning, Montrose senior coach Gary Ayres said Garthwaite had scans on Monday after he “hurt his toe and sort of the arch of his foot in kicking”.

But he has since been cleared of a break and remained a chance to play against top-five rival Beaconsfield this Saturday. The Demons have a bye the following round.

“There’s no fracture which is a good sign,” Ayres said on Thursday.

“We’d be anticipating how he trains and how he runs around today – clearly there’s no issue with not having to make a decision today, I can make a decision on Saturday.

“We’ll give the big fella every chance to get up for this weekend, because it’s a pretty important game, obviously.”

Ayres said the injury hampered the sharpshooter’s mobility last Saturday.

“He said he felt like he couldn’t push off, and clearly whatever was going on restricted that movement,” he said.

“We tried to put him as close to goal as we could … we thought at least he’s a presence down there, but he just couldn’t push off to mark or accelerate as we need him to when leading.

“We thought we’d give it until three-quarter time … there’s a lot of footy to be played in the season.”

Garthwaite leads the competition goalkicking by 22 majors, as the Demons sit fourth on the ladder with an 8-5 record.

“He’s been outstanding … it (56 goals) is an unbelievable effort and he’s a leader amongst our group. He leads by the way he plays,” Ayres said.

“He’s important – and that’s an understatement.”

Montrose, which kicked 10.22 on Saturday, finished the match with one rotation as defenders Jacob Farrell and Jordan Eales also succumbed to injuries.

The coach said Farrell’s hamstring complaint was on a “minor scale”, and Eales’ injury – first suspected as a PCL – had since been revealed as a “bone bruising, collision-type injury” following scans.

“That’s good news, too – a little bit of luck out of what we’ve got,” Ayres said.

“Ryan plays this week, potentially – and the other two boys should be right after the bye is what I’m anticipating.”

Despite the Demons’ wayward kicking on Saturday, Ayres couldn’t fault his depleted charges’ effort.

“I couldn’t have asked them to try any harder per se, but we weren’t clinical in our finishing.”