AFL injuries: Who is hurt from your club after Round 6?
Sydney has been dealt a brutal double injury blow with serious injuries confirmed for stars Isaac Heeney and co-captain Josh Kennedy. See how long they’ll be out for plus the latest on Will Kelly, Joe Daniher and Jon Patton.
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Sydney has been dealt a savage double injury blow with Isaac Heeney to miss the remainder of the season and co-captain Josh Kennedy to miss up to two months.
Heeney will have surgery after he dislocated and ruptured the medial ligament in his ankle in Sunday’s loss to Richmond at the Gabba.
Kennedy will miss at least six weeks after scans revealed he ruptured the medial ligament in his knee against the Tigers.
The Swans co-captain will not require surgery, however, he will wear a brace for several weeks.
Scans on Monday revealed the severity of both injuries.
It is a major blow for the Swans who are already missing superstar Lance Franklin with a long-term hamstring injury and first-choice ruckman Sam Naismith is also out for the season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament.
“Isaac is having an ankle operation this afternoon. He’s got a ruptured medial ligament in his ankle and also his tendon tunnel has been ruptured as well. So he’s out for the year. Gets an operation this afternoon,” Sydney coach John Longmire said.
“That is really unfortunate for him and us. Isaac works so hard on his game, he plays a lot of the times with all sorts of injuries that no one would know. He’s hard as. One of the hardest players we’ve got.
“And so when he went down with that injury after the game I knew it was significant. Because he’s tough.
“I had coffee with him this morning and he was hoping on the bright side but he was looking at his ankle, it was pretty big and swollen, and I think he was fingers crossed, but knowing there could be significant damage and there was.”
Longmire said it’s the worst injury crisis he’s ever confronted as coach.
“We had a significant run last year. Seven at the back end of the year. But this has taken it to a new level,” he said.
“You can handle injuries across your list but when that becomes in one particular area like height or defenders or forwards or whatever they are (it’s very difficult).
“We’ll be OK. We’ll continue to work hard, try and get the best set up and continue to play players that we think give us the best chance of winning. We’re going to absolutely have a real crack at that this week. We’ve got injuries and players out, but that doesn’t mean we don’t go out and (give it everything).”
Kennedy will miss up to two months.
“He’ll be in a brace for probably five weeks. Or three to five weeks. And then six to eight week layoff. He’s been fantastic. Him and Isaac have been really good about it,” he said.
PIES DEBUTANT TO HAVE SURGERY
Collingwood debutant Will Kelly has returned to Melbourne and will meet with a surgeon this week after scans confirmed a dislocated elbow and fracture that could spell the end of his season.
Kelly, 19, dislocated his left elbow after falling awkwardly in a marking contest late in the Magpies’ win over Hawthorn at Giants Stadium in what coach Nathan Buckley described as a “bittersweet” first game.
He had a scan in Sydney on Saturday morning which revealed the dislocation and fracture above the elbow.
Instead of flying to Perth with his teammates on Saturday for their WA hub stint, Kelly flew home and will have surgery.
“Kelly and the club will know more about his immediate prospects after consulting with specialists,” the club said in a statement.
Former Kangaroo and league games record-holder Brent Harvey suffered a similar injury and underwent surgery in 2009 and returned within nine weeks, but a timeline of at least 12 weeks is considered the recovery timeline after surgery.
Pies forward Jaidyn Stephenson captured a post-game video of skipper Scott Pendlebury tying Kelly’s shoelaces.
“300 games tying 1 games (sic) shoe up,” he wrote on Instagram.
It caught the eye of coach Nathan Buckley.
“No stat for that,” the coach tweeted with a loveheart emoji.
Hawthorn is expecting to learn results of key forward Jon Patton’s hamstring scan on Sunday, after the luckless Hawk was felled on Friday night.
The club is hopeful that it could be in the realm of a three-week injury.
His emotion was evident in the aftermath of the incident, which occurred when he slid for a mark.
His hamstrings are further affected after grafts were taken from the muscles to facilitate two ACL reconstructions in recent years.
“Jonathan Patton obviously distressed after hamstring tear – he has had 3 knee ACL recos so he knows he no longer has a “normal” hammy after tendon grafts used so recovery usually much longer,” sports medico Dr Peter Larkins tweeted in the aftermath.
Patton, who joined the Hawks from Greater Western Sydney at the end of last season, has missed 90 games due to injury over his 92 game career.
PATTON TO MISS A MONTH
Jon Patton will miss at least a month after scans confirmed a right hamstring strain for the luckless Hawk.
The forward was felled when he slid for a mark in the first quarter of Friday night’s loss to Collingwood and had scans in Sydney on Saturday.
“Obviously this news is really disappointing for Jon and the club,” Hawks football boss Graham Wright said.
“His frustration and emotion was evident on Friday night so you can see how much this means to him.
“The positive news is that we should see Jon back on the park in a month and he’ll undertake his recovery with the support of the club, as we continue in the hub environment.
“We’re confident that he will do all the right things in his recovery to ensure we see him back out there as soon as possible.”
DONS HOPEFUL DANIHER COULD RETURN IN NEXT MONTH
John Worsfold says Joe Daniher could be less than a month from an AFL return but will continue backing in his forward line to continue its brilliant start to the season.
Worsfold admitted the Dons had considered throwing Cale Hooker forward against North Melbourne given the club’s amazing defensive depth.
Aaron Francis, Matt Guelfi, Brandon Zurk-Thatcher and Mason Redman were all overlooked at selection and instead played in a scratch match.
But Worsfold instead kept Hooker back to shut down Ben Brown and Orazio Fantasia added punch in a new role off halfback and the Dons still kicked a winning score.
Daniher has started putting together strong training and is impressing track watchers after continued groin issues but is still some weeks away.
He would be an enticing prospect in the Dons forward line given their 4-1 start even if it was only a month before a likely finals campaign.
“The aim is to get him back playing footy as quickly as we can without rushing it,” Worsfold told 3AW.
“We want Joey when he gets back playing to have a career uninterrupted as much as possible and it’s what we are working towards. Whether it’s in 3-4 weeks or 5-6 I can’t answer that.
“He has been tracking along pretty well so it’s been great to have him on the training track.
“One thing about the training protocols is Joey has been able to get on the track with players earlier than if we were in full contact so it’s just been nice to have him out there.
“It might be four weeks, it might be six. Basically we are not focusing on date, it’s just keep progressing, working through it and then all of a sudden we will say he is ready to go. There is no strict time on that.”
Essendon will lose Brownlow contender Dylan Shiel to suspension but have continually shown this year they have been able to win without their best side.
Andrew McGrath and Jordan Ridley continue breakout seasons, with Ben Rutten and Worsfold backing in the undermanned forward line.
“Hooker as a forward is very tempting and it was very tempting and Guelfi, Zurk-Thatcher, Redman and Guelfi were all ready to go so it was very tempting to say one could come in and release Hooksy but we wanted to back in the work the forwards have done and give them an opportunity to build chemistry and trust they will do the job for us.
“Kyle Langford hit the scoreboard, (Shaun) McKernan and (Jacob) Townsend competed well, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti is always a threat even defensively and creates so much for us and we were confident they would get the job done for us.”
MCDONALD CLEARED OF SERIOUS DAMAGE TO EYE
Melbourne forward Tom McDonald has been cleared of serious damage to his injured eye and could be back on field against Hawthorn on Sunday.
In a freak incident, McDonald copped a poke in the eye early in the win over the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday night and spent the rest of the match on the bench with a patch on.
He was taken to hospital as a precaution and was found to have a scratched eyeball.
It’s understood the eye area remains quite bruised and closed over and will be monitored by club medical staff during the week.
McDonald will be on light duties for the next few days, but the Demons hope he can return to training later in the week and is a chance to play against the Hawks at Giants’ Stadium.
Under fire during the week, the Demons responded with a 17-point win over the Suns.
With McDonald on the bench injured, young forward Sam Weideman kicked two goals in his first game of the season for the Demons.
Tom McDonald looking very Phantom of the Opera #AFLDeesSuns pic.twitter.com/SfMQ3sb7gj
— Mitch (@M_1tch) July 11, 2020
READ MORE:
Mick Malthouse lists the six current-day players who have earnt the ‘champion’ tag