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.

Melbourne’s rebounding stocks may have taken a hit as Judd McVee waits on scan results after appearing to ping his hamstring at training.

And vice-captain Jack Viney has become the latest battered Demon as he deals with a rib cartilage injury.

McVee reached for his right hamstring when kicking during match play at training on Wednesday and appeared in serious discomfort.

He then was taken away from Gosch’s Paddock in a buggy, driven into Melbourne’s offices at AAMI Park.

The half-back was sent off for scans and Dees footy boss Alan Richardson said: “fingers crossed it’s not significant”.

McVee was playing off half-back in match play for a Melbourne squad that was without fellow defensive playmakers Christian Salem and Caleb Windsor on Wednesday.

Small defender Jake Bowey joined Salem away from training, with the pair dealing with illness.

Viney was absent due to a personal commitment but he is also dealing with sore ribs after being brought down in a tackle last week.

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.

Ed Langdon has continued to ply his trade in the midfield. Picture: Michael Klein

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.

Originally published as Melbourne Track Watch: Judd McVee suffers hamstring injury, all the latest pre-season notes