LAST week’s debutant Kade Chandler is set to miss the final game of 2019 after hurting his finger in Friday night’s game.
“Chandler has a fracture in his finger, so he won’t play,” Elite Performance Manager Dave Misson told Melbourne Media.
“It happened in the beginning of the last quarter and he played the game out with it, but we won’t risk him this week.”
Max Gawn and Jordan Lewis also suffered minor injury concerns during the clash with Sydney, but should both be available to play in Round 23.
“Max just tightened up a bit in his hamstring,” Misson said.
“He didn’t really have an incident, but we were precautious in the game – we didn’t want to risk him.
“The scans came back good and he’s already had a run and feels good. He’ll do a bit of training tomorrow and we expect him to play.”
Fortunately, Lewis is in the clear to play his final senior game, recovering from a corked shin without any concern.
With just the one week remaining and a VFL finals campaign still up in the air for the Casey Demons, Tom Sparrow’s return from a knee injury is yet to be determined.
“He’s going to do a little bit of training with the main group tomorrow, so he’s still on target for VFL finals if they get in,” Misson said.
A number of players have been stuck on the long-term injury list, so the club has started looking ahead, with Sam Weideman undergoing surgery on his hips.
“He had his second hip operated on yesterday, so he’s tracking pretty well,” Misson said.
“Getting them done now puts him a month ahead of where he would be if we waited until the end of the season, so that’s a good result.
“He will potentially be back with the main group by the beginning of December.”
Check out Melbourne’s full injury list below:
Injury List
Max Gawn | Hamstring – Available
Jordan Lewis | Shin – Available
Tom Sparrow | Knee – 1 week
Kade Chandler | Finger
Jeff Garlett | Shoulder
Mitch Hannan | Groin
Neville Jetta | Knee
Kade Kolodjashnij | Head
Steven May | Hamstring
Corey Maynard | Hip
Tom McDonald | Knee
Aaron Nietschke | Knee
Joel Smith | Groin
Tim Smith | Foot
Aaron vandenBerg | Foot
Guy Walker | Shoulder
Sam Weideman | Jaw and hips
