Cats Dan Menzel likely to miss 11th week of AFL football as a result of injection gone wrong
GEELONG’S star goalkicker Dan Menzel impressed in his return to football, but it seems unlikely the Cats will recall him for Thursday night’s crunch clash with Sydney.
AFL News
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DANIEL Menzel is likely to miss an 11th week of AFL football as he builds conditioning in the VFL after a cortisone injection gone wrong left him struggling to walk.
While Geelong might be tempted to rush Menzel in for Thursday night’s critical clash against Sydney at the SCG, the goalkicker is considered doubtful after playing a full VFL game on Saturday.
In his first appearance since Round 5, Menzel clocked up about 10km and kicked two goals in a promising display.
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The short turnaround means he is likely to play VFL against Frankston this Sunday.
If the Cats then wanted Menzel to return against Adelaide in Round 17 they would have to carefully manage his VFL minutes this week, given they again play on a Thursday night.
Menzel’s manager recently said he had “cortisone leaking into his bones and all sorts of things” after the injection.
In May the Herald Sun revealed Menzel received two cortisone injections and the adverse reaction left the Cats’ medical team puzzled.
They considered exploratory surgery as a last resort, which would’ve almost certainly ruled Menzel out for the season.
But Menzel slowly returned to training and assistant coach Matthew Knights said he “sparkled” on the track last week.
“His contested marking was really sound. We want him back real soon, because we thought he was outstanding earlier this year,” Knights said.
The Cats were ranked No.1 in the AFL for scores per inside 50m with Menzel in the team. In his absence they are ranked 12th.
Geelong was upset by Western Bulldogs on Friday night despite Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Gary Ablett all recording 30 disposals and Mitch Duncan said Menzel missing was a key reason.
“He had a setback with the first injection and was in a lot of pain, a lot of discomfort,” Menzel’s manager Adam Ramanauskas said recently.
“He couldn’t get out of bed. It was definitely serious. He was in excruciating pain because the first injection completely missed the spot.
“It wasn’t good at all. He had no idea what happened.”
The AFL Players’ Association reached out to Menzel during his recovery and Menzel told the player union he was comfortable with his progress.
Menzel falls out of contract at the end of the season but was in career-best form before the injection, booting 15.9 in the first five games.
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