Bundoora ruckman Matt Dennis could be out for two months as Northern Football League club’s ruck stock takes massive hit

STAR Bundoora ruckman Matt Dennis could be out for eight weeks after suffering a bruised kidney for the second time.

NFL: Bundoora v Heidelberg at Yulong Reserve, Bundoora. Bundoora No.21 Matthew Dennis and Heidelberg No. 27 Michael Finn in action.

STAR Bundoora ruckman Matthew Dennis could be out for eight weeks after suffering a bruised kidney for the second time.

The Frank Rosbrook Medal winner and Northern Football League interleague representative was injured in a heavy tackle against Heidelberg in Round 1.

Bulls coach Phil Plunkett told Local Footy the club had no choice but to take a conservative approach with Dennis’ recovery because of the nature of his injury.

“Matt got injured in the Heidelberg game, he got sling tackled,” Plunkett said.

“He’ll miss a little bit of football, that’s hurt us height wise.

“It gave Jordy Galea a chance to play his first game of senior footy.

“He was able to try and compete for us and for his first game, I wasn’t expecting too much.”

Plunkett said a return in 3-4 weeks was the best-case scenario for Dennis, with a lay-off of 6-8 weeks more likely.

“He’s had issues last year, he bruised his kidneys,” he said.

“It’s just more precautionary really.”

Bundoora’s dwindling big-man stocks took another hit on Saturday with Luke Simpson sustaining a knee injury in the club’s two-point loss to Montmorency.

Plunkett said the Bulls were unsure what the extent of Simpson’s injury was.

“He just rolled his knee,” he said.

“I spoke to him (on Saturday night), he was still a bit sore.

“You just don’t know (the extent). You’ve just got to make sure everything is right, similar to Matt, rather than trying to rush anyone back in.”

Ned Mckeown looms as the player most likely to fill Dennis’ boots for an extended period after impressing against Montmorency.

“We were down to one bloke after half time on the bench and I threw Ned in the ruck and he did really well,” Plunkett said.

“He kicked a massive goal, I reckon from the centre of the ground.”

Bundoora’s Round 2 loss left the club in ninth on the ladder ahead of a clash against West Preston-Lakeside this weekend.