EXCITING young Demon Christian Salem is set to miss the next three to four matches with a hamstring injury.
Elite performance manager Dave Misson confirmed on Tuesday that Salem would be sidelined until early June, after he suffered the injury during last Saturday’s 105-point loss to Hawthorn at the MCG.
“Christian had a scan after the game and it was a reasonable hamstring injury, but we’re hoping it’s just going to be a three to four weeks,” he told Dee TV.
In better news, key forward Jesse Hogan is likely to play against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG on Sunday, after he was a late withdrawal in round seven.
“Jesse’s pulled up pretty well, but we expect him to train and play this week,” Misson said.
“We won’t make a decision until the end of the week.”
Small forward Jay Kennedy-Harris will also miss another two more matches.
“We think we need to give him a couple of more weeks to let those groins settle down,” Misson said.
“He’s made good progress this week and he’ll start running towards the end of the week or next week.
“It’ll probably be a couple of weeks for him.”
Tough-nut Jack Viney is another week away.
“Jack’s going really well, but he’ll do his first session back with the group tomorrow (Wednesday),” Misson said.
“On the back of that, he won’t play this week, because he’ll need a bit more [time] than that. We expect him to play the following week.”
Defender Neville Jetta (concussion) will be assessed during the week.
“Nev’s going well. He’s been doing a power of work and been training with the group,” Misson said.
“He’s been doing a lot of extra running [and will be tested this week].”
Versatile tall Jack Fitzpatrick faces a fitness test, after hurting his neck playing for Casey last weekend.
Recruit Sam Frost is still another four to six weeks away with a toe injury.
“He’s still in a boot and we’re taking it pretty slow, because these injuries can flare quite quickly, if you ramp the rehab up too much,” Misson said.
“We’re hoping to wean him out of the boot next week and he’ll start doing some decent off legs stuff and then start running after that.”
Powerful forward Dean Kent has been earmarked for a return in July.
“He’s ahead of where we thought he’d be and importantly he’s pulling up well from those runs,” Misson said.
“His rehab is still eight to 10 weeks, but it wouldn’t surprise us if he was a bit quicker than that.”
Misson said long-term injured players Christian Petracca (knee) and Jack Trengove (foot) were still working hard in rehab.
“They’re going pretty well and it is a grind in rehab, but those guys are staying really positive and are helping each other, and are tracking pretty well.”
Melbourne injury list: round eight
Jack Fitzpatrick (neck) – test
Sam Frost (toe) – 4-6 weeks
Jesse Hogan (soreness) – test
Neville Jetta (concussion) – test
Jay Kennedy-Harris (groin) – 2 weeks
Dean Kent (hamstring) – 8-10 weeks
Christian Petracca (knee) – season
Christian Salem (hamstring) – 3-4 weeks
Jack Trengove (foot) – season
Jack Viney (leg) – 1 week
