Melbourne star Max Gawn expected to be fit for Round 1 after knee injury
Melbourne remains optimistic star ruckman Max Gawn will feature in at least one of its pre-season matches after injuring his knee at a pre-season camp in Maroochydore.
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Melbourne is growing in confidence Max Gawn will be primed for its season opener and expects the star ruckman to feature in pre-season.
The Demons narrowly avoided disaster when Gawn wascleared of a season-ending knee injury after hurting himself during match simulation at a training camp in Maroochydore.
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Melbourne said on Thursday it expects Gawn to recover in time for their Round 1 clash with West Coast in Perth on March 22 after he suffered a grade two strain of his left medial ligament at training.
Football boss Josh Mahoney said on Thursday the Demons were optimistic Gawn would recover to be part of their pre-season, which features games against Adelaide (February 22) and Hawthorn (March 6).
“His knee is OK in the context of people thinking the worst,” Mahoney said on RSN.
“He had a bit of an incident at training where he’s hurt his medial ligament and at this stage it probably looks like about three weeks that he won’t be able to join in full training for.
“But in terms of his preparations for the season there will be a couple of weeks that he will be able to get at least one, maybe two practice matches in before the season, so good result overall.”
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Gawn, 28, was taken from the track at the club’s Queensland training camp by club medicos then sent immediately for scans.
The three-time All-Australian underwent knee reconstructions in 2009, before he was drafted, and in 2012, but has been relatively durable in recent seasons.
The 2012 operation on Gawn’s right knee ruled him out for more than a year.
“Max got a knock to the knee during a match simulation drill earlier today, and scans have since revealed a Grade 2 medial ligament strain,” Mahoney said immediately after the incident.
“Whilst exact timelines are yet to determined, at this stage, we anticipate he will be available for the start of the season.”
Grade two medial ligament strains usually require close to two months on the sidelines to recover.
The ACL is the next ligament, although scans last night cleared Gawn of damage to that.
While Gawn could require minor surgery to tighten his medial ligament, that is unlikely to push back his return date.
Gawn has taken home the Demons’ past two best-and-fairests and is a hot favourite to captain the club in 2020.
He has missed just one game since midway through the 2017 season.
Gawn — the winner of the Demons’ past two best-and-fairests, and a hot favourite to captain the club in 2020 — has enjoyed durability in recent seasons, missing just one AFL game since midway through 2017.
Gawn has privately conceded in recent years that the early run of injuries meant he was destined to fall short of reaching 200 games.
The brilliant ruckman has played 120 games.
The Demons are reasonably well-stocked for big blokes.
They secured back-up ruckman Brayden Preuss from North Melbourne two years ago and used their prized No. 3 draft pick on 200cm teenager Luke Jackson last year.
Preuss, 24, now looms as the main man for the pre-season.
Midfielder Angus Brayshaw sustained an elbow injury last week that will see him miss about a month of pre-season while Harley Bennell, who is training in the hope of winning a third AFL lifeline, suffered another calf complaint.
But the Demons are far healthier than this time last year, when 17 players were on the mend from post-season surgeries.
Originally published as Melbourne star Max Gawn expected to be fit for Round 1 after knee injury
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