EFNL Division 2 2024: Boronia provides injury updates on Josh Begley, Mitch Mellis

Boronia will “err on the side of caution” with two of its biggest stars who fell under injury clouds on Saturday as the club’s 18-game winning streak was brought to an end. But one will miss weeks.

A shoulder concern will sideline Boronia's Josh Begley. Picture: Leesa Clarkson

Boronia is breathing a sigh of relief following injury concerns to two of its biggest names.

The Hawks’ 18-game winning streak came to a halt on Saturday in their eight-point loss to Croydon as reigning Division 2 league medallist Mitch Mellis and leading goalkicker Josh Begley exited the field early.

Boronia senior coach Matt Clark said Begley was set to miss the next two weeks after a shoulder concern forced the ex-AFL Bomber from the field in the opening minutes of the final term.

Begley’s season has yielded 26 majors from six games, hitting the scoreboard in all bar one match.

His first four weeks took in three bags of six – with five his most modest return in the opening month.

Clark said while there was no structural damage to Begley’s shoulder, soreness would rule the 25-year-old out.

“‘Begs’ copped a bit of a push in a marking contest and fell on his shoulder a bit awkwardly,” he said.

“He’s probably going to be a two-weeker, so I don’t expect him to play this week or next week, but he should be available for the (Round 9) Ringwood game.

“He went and got scans and there’s no structural damage … he’s just got some soreness.

“He’ll want to come back earlier, but we just want to make sure he’s 100 per cent right before we send him back out there.”

The coach said better news surrounded Mellis, who was set to line-up against Heathmont this Saturday.

The midfielder was met heavily in a contest, coming from the field before half-time.

All clear: Boronia's Mitch Mellis will play this weekend after a heavy hit. Picture: Davis Harrigan

“He got a real big hit and we just decided on the day not to put him at risk any further,” Clark said.

“Mitch will be available this week – he trained fully last night, and we actually got clearance for him (on game-day) to go back on.

“But we thought to err on the side of caution … he’s a kamikaze footballer.”

Clark said the weekend’s loss was heavily reviewed, after the reigning premier led the match by 25 points at quarter-time before being overrun.

“We lost our run and dare after quarter-time and probably midway through the second quarter,” he said.

“I thought Croydon took full advantage of their opportunities, moved the ball well and tackled really strongly.

“Even in the way we moved the ball forward I thought was really plain – we were really predictable.

“The beauty for me as a coach is we lose a game of football and it’s Round 6 – and in our review, we were quite strong.

“We’ll rebound and the guys are really motivated for that.”