Melbourne Track Watch: Judd McVee suffers hamstring injury, all the latest pre-season notes
An important Demon had to be carted off the training track after going down with a painful injury, as the Dees count the cost of some stars being MIA during pre-season.
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Melbourne defender Judd McVee has become the latest victim of a serious pre-season hamstring injury after scans revealed he will miss the first month of the season.
McVee went down clutching at his right hamstring after kicking at training on Wednesday and he will miss 6-8 weeks.
The Melbourne half-back line has been hit this week, with Christian Salem and Jack Bowey missing Wednesdays session due to illness and Caleb Windsor suffering through a skin infection in his foot.
Jack Viney has also been battling rib cartilage damage and will miss an intraclub hit out on Thursday.
McVee joined the likes of Dogs Liam Jones and Jason Johannisen, Bomber Matt Guelfi and Roo George Wardlaw in copping serious hamstrings since training returned after the Christmas break.
Dees footy boss Alan Richardson said it was “disappointing” for McVee to go down close to the season start.
“We’re confident he’ll be back in the early part of the season,” he said.
Teammate Christian Petracca cracked a rib earlier this pre-season, while skipper Max Gawn injured his larynx and forward Matt Jefferson was concussed, all at training.
Viney will miss an important match simulation hitout on Friday.
Richardson said the Dees expected Windsor to be back into full training next week after a skin infection in his foot, so he will also miss Friday’s hitout.
Shane McAdam also left training early after discussions with medical staff.
Koltyn Tholstrup made a brief appearance and went back into the room after discussions with medical staff as he works his way back from a bone stress injury.
Forward Jake Melksham went through a strong running session as he deals with his own hamstring and Petracca continued to sit out contact drills as he builds conditioning.
MAGNET MOVES
With a number of players missing in action, Simon Goodwin threw around his magnets for some match play at the end of the session.
Ed Langdon was a standout when playing as a centre bounce midfielder, as this masthead revealed this week.
The regular winger worked with Kysaiah Pickett, Trent Rivers and Gawn in a mostly ‘A’ team.
Clayton Oliver played in the ‘B’ midfield for balance.
Pickett and Langdon combined well, with Langdon often lining up as the defensive player in the bounce then using his trademark spread to win plenty of the ball on the outside.
Langdon has been so much of a fixture on the wing for the Demons that he did not even come to the bench at all in eight of his final 10 games last year, with the endurance beast charging up and down the outside expanses of the ground.
The match simulation was done with limited numbers but the Dees went with Steven May, Jake Lever and Harry Petty in the ‘A’ backline, with Tom McDonald up the other end on the ‘B’ team.
Jefferson played alongside Jacob van Rooyen in the ‘A’ forward line, with draftee Xavier Lindsay playing as a half-forward in that team.
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Originally published as Melbourne Track Watch: Judd McVee suffers hamstring injury, all the latest pre-season notes