Daniel Menzel will miss the rest of the SANFL season after breaking his foot in the opening round for Central District

Former Geelong and Sydney forward Daniel Menzel had hoped to put a horror injury run behind him and worked tirelessly to get into the best shape of his career. But his return to the SANFL with Central District has lasted just one game.

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Central District star Daniel Menzel has been unable to escape his nightmare injury run with the gun forward to miss the rest of the season.

The luckless Menzel will have surgery on a broken foot on Saturday after scans revealed the break, as well as ligament damage, and his season is over after just one game since returning to the Bulldogs this year.

Menzel has already been forced to fight back from a staggering four knee reconstructions in his nine seasons with Geelong, and was limited to seven games with Sydney last year following groin surgery.

“It has not completely kicked in, I’ve not got my head around it yet,” Menzel said. “It is a weird feeling.

“I feel like with all the ACLs I have been through and everything else, I have got a lot of perspective and I did say to the surgeon ‘it is not an ACL, so that is a positive’.

“That is the only way to look at it because it would drive me insane.”

Daniel Menzel had four knee reconstructions at Geelong.

Menzel hurt his foot when he landed awkwardly marking the ball in the first training session following the COVID-19 enforced break.

Scans revealed bone bruising and he was restricted in his training leading into the opening round clash against Sturt at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

“My mindset was it will be sore, but I had to get through,” Menzel said. “I could not run on the weekend and struggled through.

“It was really sore and I had another incident. I saw the surgeon and he said the damage was worse than initially thought.”

Menzel made 73 appearances for the Cats after being drafted in 2009, before a season with the Swans. He returned to the Bulldogs after being delisted at the end of last season and was extremely enthusiastic about his health after working tirelessly.

The opportunity to finally play alongside his brother Troy also had him motivated, along with the chance to spend more time in the midfield.

Despite another serious set-back, Menzel is refusing to call a halt to his career.

He will wear a moon boot for six weeks and will stay connected to the Bulldogs as an assistant coach.

“I just have to postpone things in my mind in terms of playing wise,” Menzel said.

“I’m not throwing everything in, I’m only 28 and have a lot of time left.”

Daniel Menzel (right) was looking forward to playing alongside his brother, former Carlton player Troy, at the Bulldogs this season. Picture: Tom Huntley

BIG BLOW FOR PANTHERS SKIPPER

South Adelaide co-captain Matt Rose will be forced to sit out most of the season

following surgery to repair a torn bicep muscle from the opening minutes of last Saturday’s season opener against the Eagles.

Rose, who has played 154 games with the Panthers and is in his second season as co-captain with Joel Cross, said he knew something was wrong in a trial game.

“I think I ruptured the bicep in a trial game and then pulled up after thinking it was just a sore shoulder,’’ Rose, a teacher at Glenelg Primary School, said.

“Then my shoulder dislocated (against Eagles) in the game in a tackle probably because the strength there had just gone.

South's Matthew Rose (left) will miss much of the season with a torn bicep. Picture: Matt Loxton

“Surgery seemed to go okay and I will be seeing the surgeon in two weeks and my arm will be in a sling for six weeks.

“Hopefully if the boys are going OK I might be a chance to play later in the season.’’

Panthers’ football manager Warren Ploenges said Rose’s injury was bad luck but the co-captain was a tough character.

“He’s pretty stoic and he will keep doing the right things,’’ Ploenges said.

“He is highly regarded by the playing group and hopefully he can get back later in the season.’’

Originally published as Daniel Menzel will miss the rest of the SANFL season after breaking his foot in the opening round for Central District