Luckless Saint Nathan Freeman undergoes more surgery on his hamstring

ST KILDA midfielder Nathan Freeman has undergone more surgery on his hamstring after suffering another injury last month, with this latest setback to keep him on the sidelines for an extended period.

Nathan Freeman is still yet to make his AFL debut. Picture: Getty

IT’S crossroads time for injury-plagued midfielder Nathan Freeman who has gone under the knife again for another hamstring fix.

Freeman hurt his hamstring again at training last week and while the Saints were initially hopeful he would “only miss a few weeks”, he will now be sidelined for another two months.

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“They did some work (surgery) last week for him, which means it’ll be three to four weeks before he’s running again and then probably another three to four weeks after that where we’ll see him playing,” St Kilda chief executive Matt Finnis said.

“That gets him to about Round 3 or Round 4 of the VFL (Round 5 and 6 of the AFL).”

Nathan Freeman is still yet to make his AFL debut. Picture: Getty

The latest setback, which will keep Freeman on the sidelines until late April, means he is unlikely to push for an AFL debut until mid-season given he will need to play several consecutive VFL matches before being considered.

St Kilda had tailored a pre-season program for Freeman over the summer in a bid to control his hamstring issues and the 22-year-old had been training well before the latest setback.

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He had even impressed during match simulation, with coach Alan Richardson buoyed by the midfielders performance.

Freeman was close to finally making his AFL debut late last year after playing nearly half a VFL season.

“It’s really troubling for us,” Finnis told SEN. “He’s a really resilient young man and he handles these things with enormous professionalism and a steely resolve.

Nathan Freeman managed to show good form in the VFL last year before suffering an ankle injury. Picture: Michael Klein

“He got some real good continuity in his footy late last year to the point where he wasn’t far away from senior selection towards the back end of the year.

“He’ll put his head back down now and his bum up and I’m sure he’ll do the work and give himself every chance of getting back in.”

Freeman travelled to Germany in 2016 to seek specialist treatment from Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt and paid his own way for a second bout last year.

The former No.10 draft pick, who was selected by Collingwood before requesting a trade to St Kilda at the end of 2014, is still yet to make his AFL debut.

He is in the final year of his three-year contract with the Saints.

Freeman was hopeful a change of scenery and a new outlook on his hamstring issues would bring about a change in luck, but his injury issues followed him to Seaford.