A TIMEFRAME has yet to be placed on key Melbourne duo Jack Viney and Tom McDonald, although both have been ruled out of Sunday’s round one clash against Geelong Cats at the MCG.
Elite performance manager Dave Misson confirmed the pair was still being assessed, as they overcome foot injuries.
Reigning best and fairest winner Clayton Oliver (back) also faces a fitness test for the red and blue’s season-opener.
But Nathan Jones (back), Jordan Lewis (calf), Alex Neal-Bullen (quadriceps) and James Harmes (concussion) are all available.
Aaron vandenBerg (ankle) and Pat McKenna (hamstring) remain sidelined indefinitely.
Looking ahead to round one
“It’s great that everything’s starting again. We’re really excited about the year. We understand and we’re pretty pleased that we’re coming up against a really strong side (Geelong), who have been touted as being right up there by the end of the season,” Misson said.
“It’s going to be a great test for us and we’re looking forward to being tested and we feel we’re pretty well prepared and looking forward to Sunday.
“It’s been a pretty long pre-season. We sent nine guys down to Casey last week and got some good game time in. Alternatively, the rest of the group had a really good hit-out at Casey, the day before on the Friday. We’re pretty pleased with where we’re at, [entering round one].”
Injury assessments
James Harmes (concussion) – available
“James [will train on Thursday after he] had a minor concussion at the beginning of a training session and didn’t play in the second JLT [Community Series] match. He played for Casey last weekend and he’ll be available.”
Nathan Jones (back) – available
“Nathan did a full training session on Monday and he will tomorrow (Thursday) as well, so he’ll be available.”
Jordan Lewis (calf) – available
“Jordan trained fully on Monday with the group and he’s over any issues. He’ll train fully again tomorrow (Thursday) and be available.”
Pat McKenna (hamstring) – indefinite
“Patty, as we reported a couple of weeks ago, has started running. He tweaked his strength program a bit, which seems to have been showing some positive results. We’re pretty pleased with how Pat’s progressing.”
Tom McDonald (foot) – TBC
“Tom’s had a sore big toe for six to eight weeks. It got gradually worse after the first JLT game. We felt we needed to set him up to have a good year, especially as he’s probably going to be taking on a bit of the second ruck role as well. We’ve given him 10 days off legs and he’s improved significantly, but we feel, again, it’s not about round one or even round two. It’s trying to set him up to have a good year. Because he’s improved so much, by deloading him, we’re going to do that for another 10 days or so. Then it’s about how much work does he need to get up to play – and we’re not quite sure about that to be honest, at the moment. We’re very encouraged about how it’s progressing, and we think Tom isn’t going to be a huge amount of time out, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Alex Neal-Bullen (quadriceps) – available
“Alex [will train on Thursday] after having a [tight] quad.”
Clayton Oliver (knee) – test
“Clayton has been reported as having had a knock to the knee in that second JLT game, which has probably taken a little bit longer than we thought. But he was really good on Monday, even though he didn’t join in with the group – he did some good work with the rehab group. He’ll look to train tomorrow (Thursday) with the group and we fully expect him to be OK.”
Aaron vandenBerg (ankle) – indefinite
“Aaron has been really slow with that ankle, but he’s now run outside three times and has pulled up really well from each session. It’s pretty early in the rehab process, but we’re pretty encouraged about how he’s going.”
Jack Viney (foot) – TBC
“Jack had started training with the group. As he was transitioning into boots, his big toe got a little bit sore and we’re very conscious that he’s had some soreness around that foot. Originally, he had the plantar fascia [injury] last year and then he had some bone soreness on his third toe. Now it’s his big toe, which isn’t significant, but again, it warrants us unloading him for a week to 10 days and then reloading him again. The fact that Jack hasn’t done a lot of training with the group may mean that the reloading period needs to be a little bit longer. But again, we haven’t put a timeframe yet and we want Jack’s foot to feel good. We want him to feel good training in boots, before he plays a game.”
Melbourne injury list: round one
- James Harmes (concussion) – available
- Nathan Jones (back) – available
- Jordan Lewis (calf) – available
- Pat McKenna (hamstring) – indefinite
- Tom McDonald (foot) – TBC
- Alex Neal-Bullen (quadriceps) – available
- Clayton Oliver (knee) – test
- Aaron vandenBerg (ankle) – indefinite
- Jack Viney (foot) – TBC
