AFL Injuries 2022: How fit is your club in the lead-up to round 1?
Collingwood star Jordan De Goey suffered an injury setback in training earlier this month. Here’s what happened.
Only a hiccup in their recovery from minor injuries could prevent Collingwood stars Jordan De Goey and Jeremy Howe from playing in the pre-season clash with GWS next week and taking their spots in round 1.
After suffering a broken rib at training, De Goey is back up and running and coaching staff “put him through his paces” on Wednesday, with another big session on Friday to come as he increases his physical work.
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Neither De Goey nor Howe, who suffered only a minor groin injury, will play against Hawthorn in the practice match at Morwell this week but could be, along with defender Jordan Roughead, who has had shoulder surgery, the only Magpies not available to play.
Jamie Elliot and Cooper Merlo missed training on Wednesday with illness but should be ready to take part in the game.
Collingwood assistant coach Hayden Skipworth said De Goey and Howe should be ready to go by next weekend and certainly for the season opener against St Kilda on March 18.
“Unfortunately, (de Goey) got a broken rib a week or two ago. He’s had a really good block before then and now it’s focused around his conditioning,” Skipworth said on Wednesday.
“We put him through his paces today and another big one on Friday and then hopefully he’ll integrate back in for the GWS game the week after. Hopefully, all goes well with his rehab, we tick off the contact the last session. Next week we will build up his contact progression.”
Howe suffered a “really minor” groin injury and their imminent return gives Collingwood a “pretty healthy” list for the opening round.
“We’ve had most of our guys get through pre-season. We’ve had a fair few guys complete a lot of sessions,” Skipworth said.
Collingwood will take every player to Morwell for the six-quarter clash on Friday afternoon, with a raft of young players set to man the forward line amid hopes one could “jump out of the box” and star this season.
“Everyone will play, we’ve picked a senior team for the first three quarters and the rest of the guys will play with some VFL guys for the last three,” Skipworth said,
“We’re ready for opposition, we’ve been playing against ourselves all pre-season and the guys are craving to see where they are at.
“A lot of our young guys in the team will be through the forward line. We’ve got Jack Ginnivan, Trent Bianco, even (Nathan) Krueger coming through who could get an opportunity in that forward line. That’s were a lot of our growth will come this year, in front of the ball.
“Ollie Henry is another one. We’re hopeful one of those guys will jump out of the box and have a really good year for us.”
‘Frustrated’ Hawk facing race against time
—Michael Randall
Hawthorn flyer Jarman Impey has revealed he is racing the clock to be fit for round 1.
Impey, who missed the second half of 2021 with a serious ankle injury, has had an interrupted pre-season after experiencing foot soreness.
“It’s been a long pre-season, found myself a little bit injured this last couple of weeks, which is frustrating coming into round 1,” Impey said.
“So hopefully I can pull it together and race for round 1.”
The 26-year-old heaped praise on new coach Sam Mitchell, saying the man who replaced four-time premiership mentor Alastair Clarkson “hasn’t put a foot wrong”.
“He’s been fantastic, very enthusiastic,” Impey said.
“We’ve got a young group of boys and he’s been sensational.
“Let’s see how we go throughout the season and rack up a few wins, hopefully.”
Impey said the young Hawks’ list was excited to test itself against Collingwood Friday in its first pre-season hitout at Morwell.
“It’s one of those interesting ones where the boys have been training really well and having a great pre-season and now we’re looking forward to these pre-season matches to see where we are at,” he said
“All the boys are very hungry and ready to play this week, so let’s see how we go.”
The proud Yorta Yorta man from Shepparton in the state’s north was speaking after trading his Hawks guernsey with South East Melbourne players Xavier Munford and Ryan Broekhoff as the Phoenix unveiled their Indigenous jersey for 2022.
“I think it’s important to have other codes follow Indigenous Round and what it means to us and us to represent our culture,” he said.
“For First Nations people, I think it’s very important that we get educated around that space.”
Double blow for Dogs’ recruits as star Tiger locked in
—Glenn McFarlane
Western Bulldogs recruit Tim O’Brien is in doubt for the club’s season-opening round 1 clash with Melbourne as the club conceded its exciting father-son draftee Sam Darcy is unlikely to play matches until at least the second half of the year.
The Bulldogs plan to take a conservative approach with O’Brien, who moved from the Hawks during last year’s free agency period, after he suffered a recent setback.
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It comes as star midfielder Bailey Smith and key defender Alex Keath were ruled out of Wednesday’s practice match against Essendon at the Hangar with minor issues.
Bulldogs Head of Sports Medicine Chris Bell said the plan was to give O’Brien time to recover so that the injury did not impact on his early-season form.
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“At this stage of the pre-season we are going to be conservative with Tim and his management of the hamstring as we look to build continuity and an uninterrupted season ahead,” Bell said.
O’Brien is only three games shy of 100 games, having played 19 for the Hawks last year.
Darcy, who was taken by the Bulldogs at pick two, was always going to take some time, given he is recovering from a navicular bone injury from late last year.
But the Bulldogs won’t rush his return, suggesting they will wait until the second half of the season to ascertain whether he will play matches this year or not.
“Given Sam is a developing young athlete with a bright future, we want to make sure that we are conservative in his management and take our time to build a resilient and durable athlete,” Bell said.
“The management plan in place for Sam will have a long-term approach, and the club will confirm whether this involves playing games in the second half of the season once we accurately track progress over the coming months.”
Both Smith and Keath are expected to return for next week’s AAMI Community Series clash with Brisbane Lions at Marvel Stadium on March 4.
“Bailey will be managed after having some groin soreness following last week’s intra club hitout,” Bell said.
“The plan at this stage is to build his match minutes for the second practice fixture against Brisbane.
“Alex recently suffered some back soreness during match simulation. He has improved significantly over the past few days, and we are optimistic that he will be available for the AAMI Community Series.”
Toby McLean and Josh Bruce are making slow but steady progress following their ACL reconstructions with the belief they could both be back ready for matches in August.
Tiger star to return in practice match clash
—Marc McGowan
Richmond key forward Tom Lynch will return from a hamstring setback in Saturday’s practice game against Geelong but there is still doubt about Dustin Martin.
Lynch has been on lighter duties since mid-January and was held out of last week’s intraclub match at Punt Road Oval.
Martin is on the comeback trail from the serious kidney injury he sustained in July that saw him lose 10kg and be placed on a fruit-only diet for a period.
The 2017 Brownlow medallist and triple Norm Smith medallist is also grieving the death of his father Shane in December.
Tigers senior club advisor Neil Balme revealed Lynch would face the Cats at GMHBA Stadium but left some mystery around Martin’s status for this weekend.
“Tommy’s had a bit of a hammy, so we wanted to take the pressure off,” Balme told Sportsday SA.
“ He will certainly play at least two quarters this week. Dusty either will or he won’t – he’s got a few little issues, a few things going on with him, but he’s fine.
“His kidney, for example, is 100 per cent. He’s really fit, he’s been training really well, but he’s just got a couple of little things bugging him at the minute, so he may play in this one or he may not.
“But it won’t have an impact on whether he plays in round 1. He’ll be ready to go from the start, for sure.”
Balme said Martin had regained most of the weight he lost and was “running really well”.
He is also confident Richmond will again be a premiership contender after failing to make the finals last year, which ended a golden run of three flags in four seasons.
“I’m ever the optimist. I think we’re looking fantastic. We’ve trained really well and managed to put in a really solid pre-season,” Balme said.
“I’m really positive that it’ll be a very strong year. We had a bit of bad luck last year with injuries, which I know sometimes sounds like an excuse, but it did make it difficult for us.
“I’d be really surprised if we’re not back to where we were this year.”
The Tigers also confirmed that Matt Parker suffered a sprained foot in last Saturday’s internal match simulation.
Aaron faces Hall order to be ready for round 1
—Nick Smart
North Melbourne defender Aaron Hall faces an uphill battle to play in round 1 after suffering a hamstring injury last week.
Hall went off the field during last Friday’s intra-club game and was sent for a scan in the following days.
The Kangaroos confirmed on Tuesday that Hall will miss three to four weeks, which is a standard time frame for a typical hamstring injury.
It rules him out of Thursday’s practice game against Melbourne, and the veteran will also be touch and go to be available for the round 1 meeting with Hawthorn on March 20.
The 31-year-old was one of the Kangaroos’ best last season, which saw him ink a new contract until the end of this year.
‘He’ll be back’: Bomber’s hope for miracle Hurley recovery
— Jon Ralph
Essendon key back Jayden Laverde says the Bombers players are increasingly optimistic Michael Hurley can make a miracle recovery this year after already inspiring them with his dedication to rehabilitation.
The much-loved Bomber had hip joint replacement surgery over summer after a serious infection saw him lose 10kg and face multiple stints in hospital.
He put in his most promising running session last week and while he still is some way from contemplating an AFL return he is on the road back.
Laverde’s own conversion into a key defender playing on the stars of the game helped Essendon plug that positional hole but he is desperate for his fellow back to make it back to senior football.
He told the Herald Sun Hurley continued to make encouraging progress, 12 months on from that demoralising day when he limped into a pre-season game at Ikon Park on crutches as a gaunt, diminished figure.
Asked if Hurley could get back, he replied: “I definitely think so, he is in the right mindset, in the right frame of mind to come back. It was really exciting to see him running pretty quick last week, he’s pretty optimistic on where he’s at. From where he has been the last year compared to now is much better.
“We are really happy for him and hopefully he can get back out there in front of the Bombers faithful. It’s more just a tick off thing for him, he hasn’t played in a while, it’s going to take some time to tick off the things he needs to and get back into training and then go through all the steps he needs to get back to training. I am pretty optimistic and I think he would be too.”
Hurley is contracted until the end of 2022 and while his decision to re-sign while banned for 12 months made him a fan favourite an AFL return would be one of the season’s highlights.
“It is incredible. I have been in the rehab group and at the best of times (it’s hard). I can’t imagine a whole year slaving away,’’ Laverde said.
“You see him most mornings in the pool, he is the first one in the pool doing what he can do and working on what he can do. He is always in the gym working on his strength and getting that back.
“I can just imagine the amount of work he’s put in and the dedication — it would be really taxing on him mentally. I don’t think there are many other blokes who would be able to get through it. It’s been huge by Mick.”
Bombers relief as key trio cleared to return
—Chris Cavanagh
A trio of Essendon players have been cleared to return from injury for a practice match against the Western Bulldogs in a major boost for the Bombers’ round 1 preparations.
Dylan Shiel, Kyle Langford and Harrison Jones all completed full training sessions on Monday and will feature in the clash against the Bulldogs at Tullamarine on Wednesday afternoon.
The three players had all sat out last Wednesday’s intra-club match, but Essendon confirmed to News Corp that they would play this week.
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Shiel had suffered some quad tightness at training earlier this month which put him on a reduced training load, while Langford was on light duties after recently hurting his shoulder and Jones had foot and ankle problems over the past six months.
Jones, who played 16 games and kicked 20 goals on debut last season, shapes as a big part of Essendon’s forward line this year.
Coach Ben Rutten told News Corp this month: “We love what Harry Jones gives us up there and we think he is really going to progress”.
Fellow forward Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (personal issues/calf) is back at the club but is some time away from a return to the field, while the Bombers remain hopeful that star forward-midfielder Jake Stringer (groin) will be ready to face Geelong in round 1 on March 19.
The Western Bulldogs are also planning to take a strong side into Wednesday’s practice match, with midfielder Adam Treloar and forward Cody Weightman also being declared fit.
Treloar and Weightman both got through a closed intra-club match at Whitten Oval last Friday and had some nice moments.
Treloar has been carefully managed over pre-season due to his history of soft-tissue injuries, while Weightman was playing his first match simulation minutes of the summer after having foot surgery last October.
The Bulldogs entire Grand Final side from last year is currently healthy, with Josh Bruce (knee), Toby McLean (knee) and draftee Sam Darcy (foot) the club’s only major injury concerns.
Pre-season blow for Pies injury plagued high-flyer
– Rebecca Williams
Collingwood high-flyer Jeremy Howe faces up to two weeks on the sidelines with an abductor injury in a pre-season setback.
The Magpies confirmed on Monday that scans had confirmed a minor abductor injury, which would keep the defender out of action for between one and two weeks.
It is a pre-season blow for Howe after two injury-plagued seasons.
Howe injured himself during last Friday night’s intra-club clash at the Holden Centre.
The Magpies’ co-vice captain was seen grabbing at his groin after a marking contest and did not return to the action.
Howe has been restricted to only 12 matches due to injury in the past two seasons, playing eight games last year
Collingwood will open new coach Craig McRae’s coaching career when it meets Hawthorn, under its new coach Sam Mitchell, in a practice match at Morwell on Friday.
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