AFL injury news: Ed Richards injures calf, Max King seeks specialist advice for knee concern

The Bulldogs have copped another blow before the season has even begun with a walk-up starter in doubt for the beginning of the campaign.

Western Bulldogs’ midfielder Ed Richards suffered a calf problem at training on Friday and is in a race to play round one.

The club’s nightmare run on the injury front over summer continued when Richards pulled up sore at training and was sent for scans.

The club is hopeful the calf tightness is only a minor issue which does not sideline him for the season-opener against North Melbourne.

But he will be set for treatment and a modified program for at least next week before ramping up his load in the build-up to the Roos’ clash.

Ed Richards. Picture: Michael Klein

Richards has been one of the club’s best performers on the track this preseason and is set for a huge season in a contract year.

But the setback will almost certainly rule him out of the pre-season clash against Hawthorn in Launceston on Thursday.

The club will know more about the injury once he responds to treatment and begins to ramp up his training load.

It is another unfortunate headache for the Dogs who have already lost Liam Jones (hamstring), Adam Treloar (calf), Jason Johannisen (hamstring) and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (personal) for the early part of the season.

The Dogs face a difficult first month without some of their most important players although Richards, who finished fifth in the best and fairest last year, is hopeful of playing against the Kangaroos despite the hiccup.

STAR SAINT’S LATEST SETBACK PUTS ROUND 1 HOPES ON EDGE

St Kilda spearhead Max King has sought specialist advice on an unexpected knee hiccup which has put him in a race for round one.

King has experienced some right knee pain in his comeback from a recent training mishap and will face a crucial fitness test at the club on Saturday.

Importantly, two specialists have said his knee is stable and does not require more surgery, fuelling the club’s confidence he will take on Adelaide at Adelaide Oval in the club’s season-opener.

A knee injury has hit Max King again. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

However, King needs to run without any pain or restriction on Saturday to ensure can re-join main training as early as next week and take on the Crows in three weeks’ time.

The 24-year-old will not play in the practice match against Carlton on Saturday and will almost certainly miss the AAMI Community Series clash against Port Adelaide at RSEA Park on Saturday week.

Football boss David Misson said the gun forward has reported some minor pain while completing 100m run-throughs at the club over the past fortnight, but importantly ran pain-free on Thursday.

King underwent a full knee reconstruction on the same right knee in 2018 before he was drafted pick four.

“We have had the knee scanned a couple of times now and the really good news is that it is really stable,” Misson said.

“So, the surgeons don’t see any need to operate based on what they have seen.

“But he has felt something in some run-throughs recently and he will have another run on Saturday.

“We are still very hopeful he will play round one.”

The club will attempt to ramp up his training load over the next fortnight to help ready him for round one after a frustrating setback in some match simulation two weeks ago.

King is on the way back from a season-ending posterior cruciate ligament injury in his left knee which ended his season last year, amid an ACL injury and shoulder problems earlier in his career.

The club re-signed the gun forward with a six-year extension until 2032, confident in his ability to help lead the club up the ladder.

In an exclusive interview to run in full in Saturday’s Herald Sun, coach Ross Lyon said King was “a rare talent”.

King is in doubt for round one. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“He has done some stuff as a young player that puts up with the superstars of the game at the same age,” Lyon said.

“He is a strong character from a great family and he just needs a run at it.

“Look at (Joe) Daniher and how he got smashed (with criticism) in his early years. (Jesse) Hogan the same.

“(Tom) Hawkins copped it before his breakthrough game in the 2011 grand final.

“It is an incredibly hard place to play (key forward) and we (footy public) are too hard on them. It takes time.”

Lyon said the club never considered trading King.

“Max took unders to stay, and that is a fact,” Lyon said.

“People said we should trade Max King.

“You know what clubs who have everything bar a Max King, do you know what they would be prepared to pay him?

“If he wanted to put himself on the market he could have got 50 per cent more (on his wage at another club) than what he is on with us.

“That is how good a person he is. He is dialled in. He has been training twice a day.

“He is not the saviour. Tom Hawkins was a great player but was he the saviour? No.

“I have got his back and we have his back and we only want him to execute as a key forward.”