Thomastown’s quest to climb NFL Division 2 ladder hampered by injuries to key recruits

THOMASTOWN could be without star recruit Carl Peterson for the remainder of the Northern Football League season due to a fractured wrist.

Thomastown does battle with Fitzroy Stars earlier this season. Picture: Mark Dadswell.

THOMASTOWN could be without star recruit Carl Peterson for the remainder of the Northern Football League season due to a fractured wrist.

The former Hawthorn forward, who was billed as the Bears’ prized off-season signing, has played only two games in 2016.

Thomastown coach Dean Sinclair said Peterson had been weighing up whether to have his wrist repaired and miss most — if not all — of the season or risk further injury by playing.

“It just hasn’t healed, it looks like he’s got to go in for surgery now,” Sinclair said.

“That will just about be him for the year. It’s looking pretty doubtful (he will play again this year).

“If he didn’t have the surgery we might get him in a week or two, but the surgeon pushed him to have the surgery and get it done.”

The 28-year-old has not featured for the Division 2 side since he was injured in its Round 5 loss to North Heidelberg.

The Bears’ other boom recruit, Dean Francis, has also been limited to five games and spent the majority of his time in the ruck when he has been available.

Sinclair said Thomastown has been forced to go back to the drawing board after much of its pre-season planning focused on deploying Francis and Peterson up forward.

“We recruited him hoping he could play permanent forward,” he said.

“He didn’t play (last) week, he did his hamstring against Panton Hill.

“We’re mainly playing him in the ruck. We thought we were going to improve this year with our forward structure ... (but) that’s one area we’ve probably fell away.”

Defenders Chris Bateman and Ricky Mercuri, who Sinclair said would be leading the club’s best and fairest, are also injured.

Thomastown defeated Lalor and Fitzroy Stars in its opening two matches but has since lost five straight games to fall to the bottom of the ladder.

Sinclair said his team was still close enough to the top four, sitting two games behind the Stars, to set its sights on a finals berth.

“It’s only two games, it’s not like we’re sitting 4-5 games off those sides. But we’d have to turn our form around really quick,” he said.

The Bears travel to Shelley Reserve to face North Heidelberg this weekend.

In other Round 10 matches, Lalor is on the road against Diamond Creek and Panton Hill hosts Hurstbridge.