Hawthorn defender Grant Birchall to miss extended period after more surgery on his knee

HAWTHORN has been dealt a major blow ahead of the 2018 season with news premiership defender Grant Birchall requires more knee surgery, while Will Langford has also suffered an injury setback.

Grant Birchall has undergone more surgery on his knee. Picture: Michael Klein

HAWTHORN has been dealt a major blow on the eve of the season with premiership defender Grant Birchall to miss the first half of the year.

Birchall has been forced to undergo more surgery on his troublesome knee, his second operation of the pre-season.

The Hawks last week said Birchall was progressing well in his return from knee surgery and was increasing his training load.

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But after pulling up sore from a training session this week, more issues were revealed.

He will have surgery next week.

“Grant was progressing really well and had been coping with the training loads,” Hawks footy boss Graham Wright said.

Grant Birchall has undergone more surgery on his knee. Picture: Michael Klein

“His training was solid this week, but unfortunately he experienced some swelling and upon investigation, we found some cartilage damage.

“We decided the best course of action was to have some minor surgery early next week.

“It’s disappointing for Birch, particularly after a really tough year in 2017, but we’re confident we’ll see him back out on the park around the middle of the season.”

Birchall had already been ruled out of Hawthorn’s Round 1 clash against Collingwood but this latest setback is a huge blow to Alastair Clarkson’s team given he is a key playmaker off halfback.

Birchall was restricted to just five games last year because of a broken jaw and then an injury to his posterior cruciate ligament. He also had surgery on his knee in August last year.

Midfielder Will Langford will also have a delayed start to the season after breaking his hand at training this week.

Langford has had surgery to insert a plate and screws.

He will miss 3-4 weeks.