We’re not yet through Round One, and already we have casualties everywhere in the 2024 AFL season.
There are players carrying over long term injuries from last season, and dozens more who have been sidelined since pre-season commenced all those months ago.
And now, as the pressure mounts and all clubs look to get their troops out onto the field, we find that some have been hit hard early in the season.
Let’s have a look at who has copped it worst.
THE ACL CLUB
We love our statistical clubs at The Mongrel, but this is one club every player wants to avoid. An ACL injury in the back half of 2023 basically ruled [players out of most the 2024 season. Unless they’re some type of superman (remember Tony Liberatore returning from a knee reconstruction within five months?) it’s close to a full year.
TOM DOEDEE – JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS AWAY
Looking as though he is getting ready to go. Caution will be the only thing that prevents him from being in the team before Round Five.
NICK MURRAY – 10-12 WEEKS
The Crows will adore having him back, but patience is a virtue. Developed into an excellent key position defender and will bolster the Crows in the second half of the year.
KEIDEAN COLEMAN – GONE
Massive loss for the Lions, but opens the door for Darcy Wilmot to take on more responsibility.
WILL ASHCROFT – FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON
Working very hard to get back as soon as possible, and ahead of schedule. Lions might hold him back til after the byes just to be sure, but Ashcroft could be ready before then.
SAM DOCHERTY – GONE
Probably the one player I’d play a reverse card on and remove the injury if I could.
JACK SILVAGNI – GONE
The Blues will miss him when they play a defence that handles Charlie and Harry.
DAN MCSTAY – GONE
The Pies bat deep up forward, but McStay was a workhorse. Coverable, but only if players like Ash Johnson step up.
LACHIE WELLER – SECOND HALF OF SEASON
Might come back at just the right time to give the Suns a boost. Elite runner.
ADAM KENNEDY – SIX OR SEVEN WEEKS
Heart and soul player who may have a hard time cracking the best 22
JAMES BLANCK – GONE
Leaves the Hawks very short-handed in defence
JAKE MELKSHAM – UNKNOWN AS YET
It could be argued the presence of Shane McAdam will make it difficult for him to push his way back in.
GRIFFIN LOGUE – SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON
Could have been North’s most important player this season had he been fit. Goal will be to get through the back half of the year and hit 2025 hard.
JAI CULLEY – THREE OR FOUR WEEKS AWAY
Surprise packet at West Coast. Hard at it, and will make elite kids earn their spot in the guts.
BAILEY SMITH – GONE
Plenty of girls crying into their Bazlenka posters with the young man out for the year. I guess the conversation around him is where he comes back to for the 2025 season?
So, there are the big ACL injuries, but you’ve also got a few that would be concerning supporters. Others have minor things, but these are the blokes we should be aware of.
OTHER BIGGIES
SAM WALSH – BACK
This scares the hell out of me. I thought we’d see him struggle last year, but it was 12 months after the initial rehab that it’s caught up to him. Back injuries… they last forever. I reckon he was just about ready to take the torch from Cripps, as well.
RILEY THILTHORPE – KNEE (11 WEEKS)
Terrible timing. Tex is out of Round One, and the stage would have been set for Thilthorpe to step up. That will all be up to Darcy Fogarty, now, as Riley sits out the first half of the season. A damn shame, too – he looked monstrous in the pre-season.
JACOB WEITERING – CALF
How long is this going to drag on for? They call it the old man’s injury, but this bloke is 26. I reckon the Blues will be as patient as they have to with him – Lewis Young and Brodie Kemp will hold the fort, but they will eventually need the cavalry.
NATHAN MURPHY – CONCUSSION
A massive worry – not just for the team but for the bloke’s long-term health.
Footy-wise, he did the dirty work for the Pies, and with Nathan Kreuger on the sidelines with a hammy (I knowntheyblike him forward, but he can play back), and Billy Frampton not quite ready, they’re relying on Charlie Dean to fill in. The kid is okay, but just how much Murphy brought is now being realised.
JORDAN RIDLEY – QUAD (THREE WEEKS)
The Bombers picked up Ben McKay, which should free Ridley up to play a little more loose, but he won’t be there for the first three weeks. The Bombers should get by against the Hawks, but against the Swans and Saints, I reckon their defence might get stretched.
SEAN DARCY – KNEE (FOUR WEEKS)
Terrible idea, getting that Luke Jackson guy to the club, right?
Darcy misses the first month, but while the Dockers swing and miss with the left, the right one has the capacity to land on the chin of the opposition. That said, I do worry about big blokes and sore knees… and they don’t come much bigger than Darcy.
CAM GUTHRIE – QUAD (SEVEN WEEKS)
First game back after barely playing last year and his quad pops in the first 15 seconds. Not a great way to instil faith in your body. Guthrie is a workhorse, but will have to ease back in.
GARY ROHAN – BACK (FIVE WEEKS)
Another back injury – big worries. You cannot rush these. If you do, it’s a short road to ruin. That said, if Cameron and Hawkins remain in the side, does Rohan line up with Ollie Henry in the mix, or are the Cats looking forward as much as they are looking at the right now?
ISAAC CUMMING – QUAD (FIVE WEEKS)
Needs a big year – out of contract after this season, and will get interest elsewhere, particularly considering he was nudged out of the role he performed so well a couple of years back.
BRAYDEN PREUSS – BACK (SIX WEEKS)
Biggest, heaviest bloke in the league, and his back is giving him issues.
Maybe stick a fork in him?
CALLAN WARD – SHOULDER (SEVEN WEEKS)
The bright side of his Round Zero injury is that it’ll only be seven weeks until he gets back on the road to 300 games. When he got hurt, I was wincing, thinking it may have been worse.
WILL DAY – FOOT
He is bordering on being the Hawks’ most effective player, and without him working through the middle, Hawthorn are a much lesser team. No confirmation on his return is a real worry.
DENVER GRAINGER-BARASS – TOE (10 WEEKS)
28 games in three years, playing a shitload of time in the reserves, and now out for ten weeks in a contract year?
Hmmm… it smells like a move back to WA might be on the cards for DGB.
CHAD WINGARD – ACHILLES (SECOND HALF OF YEAR)
Returning from a ruptured Achilles tendon, so there is no rush, and I would not expect to see The Chad until the last third of the year.
JAKE BOWEY – COLLARBONE (EIGHT WEEKS)
A bigger blow than has been reported. Underwent surgery this week and will sit out close to two months. One of the better small defenders in the game, he will be sorely missed.
JY SIMPKIN – CONCUSSION
Another very concerning one. I guess this is why the league went so hard on Jimmy Webster – a club captain now set to miss at least this week after being collected. I hope it’s not many more than this one game.
OLLIE LORD – KNEE (NINE WEEKS)
Port have Todd Marshall up forward to take the number one slot this season, and Mitch Georgiades returning from a knee reconstruction… and then Ollie Lord went and cocked up his knee. Enough with the technical terms, HB! Speak plainly!
Charlie Dixon needed help, and it could have been Ollie’s time to shine as the marking target.
PADDY DOW – KNEE (THREE WEEKS)
I was wondering whether Paddy would be the next Ex-Blue to make good at Moorabbin. Looks like he will have to wait a little longer to have his shot.
BEN PATON – TORN PEC (SECOND HALF OF SEASON)
Luckless. Came back from a knee reconstruction last year and has now torn a pec. A fair road back from this one – I wonder if he had the Cody Rhodes bruise to go with it?
HUNTER CLARK – CALF (FOUR WEEKS)
Bloke cannot catch a break. Whether it is head knocks, catching stray elbows at training, and now injuring his calf… the footy gods seem to conspire to keep him out and never allow him a clean run at a season.
CALLUM MILLS – SHOULDER (12 WEEKS)
Sydney have some classy kids in the guts, but with Luke Parker also on the sidelines, and Taylor Adams having a delayed start, as well, missing Mills for so long will eventually hurt them.
ANGUS SHELDRICK – FINGER (FOUR WEEKS)
And to make matters worse, the bloke who was supposed to capitalise on the absence of Mills, Adams, and Parker has broken a finger and will be out for a month.
Remember the days when we’d just tape two fingers together? I wonder whether Angus proposed this in order to make the most of the opportunity that was in front of him?
MATT FLYNN – KNEE (NINE WEEKS)
A bit of a killer – I expected big things from him at West Coast, and it could have had a trickle-down effect, with Bailey Williams sneaking forward a bit more often. Now, Flynn finds himself sidelined and watching as another young ruck stakes his claim.
DOM SHEED – FOOT (SIX WEEKS)
Can I be honest? Has done bugger all for the past couple of years, and hacks the footy too much. Unless he cleans that up, not a great loss.
He’ll always have 2018.
LIAM RYAN – HAMSTRING (FOUR WEEKS)
If he just got himself in amazing shape, he could be the best small forward in the game.
THE QUICKIES
And just for the record, these blokes will be missing this week. All are missing less than three weeks.
TAYLOR WALKER – BACK
A damn shame – I want to see Tex out there every week.
RORY SLOANE – EYE
Will make Mason Cox’s goggles look classy when he gets back.
JACK MARTIN – KNEE
Showed signs last year but needs to finally make good on that huge potential.
CALEB MARCHBANK – ILLNESS
If there was one piece of dog shit on a 90 mile beach, Caleb would step in it. Horrid luck – now dealing with the remnants of a virus.
DARCY PARISH – HAMSTRING
Massive loss for the Bombers, but opens the door for Jye Caldwell, Will Setterfield, and hopefully, Ben Hobbs – I dig him.
JED WALTER – SHOULDER
Cannot wait to see what the manchild can do
LACHIE HUNTER – CALF
Take your time, Lachie – the Dees have this kid named Caleb Windsor… looks great on a wing.
JACK GRAHAM – QUAD
What would Jack Dyer call him? A good ordinary player? Does a bit of everything for the Tigers, but with Taranto and Hopper in the middle, seems a little superfluous.
DAN BUTLER – ANKLE
Leaves Jack Higgins as the main small option inside 50.
AND THESE BLOKES MIGHT GET UP
All these players are listed as facing a fitness test.
JESSE MOTLOP – TOE
JEREMY HOWE – CALF
DYLAN SHIEL – FOOT
BRENNAN COX – CALF
MICHAEL FREDERICK – HAMSTRING
FINN CALLAGHAN – SHOULDER
DYLAN MOORE – GLANDULAR FEVER
HARRISON PETTY – TOE
AIDAN CORR – ANKLE
LUKE MCDONALD – HAMSTRING
JACK SINCLAIR – CALF
TYLER BROCKMAN – KNEE
JACK MACRAE – HAMSTRING
Personally, I think Jack Sinclair’s calf would take a year to fix, such is its magnitude! The Saints will need to be careful, because if he pops a calf, the blast radius is around the same area as Hiroshima. It’ll be carnage.
Both McDonald and Corr should play – North need leaders down back.
Cox is desperately required against the Brisbane firepower.
And whilst Jeremy Howe will make the Pies defence better, is he the bloke that makes life easier for the interceptors? Or is he just another interceptor?
Lots of noise about Macrae missing this week. A couple of years back, it was almost unthinkable that the Dogs would be okay with out him. Now…. not so much.
Anyway, thought I’d give you a quick rundown of who will NOT be out there this weekend so that you’re not sitting there going “where’s so-and-so?” as we get to quarter time. I’ve done that… I needed to read a column like this at one point, or another.
Bring on Round One!
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