MELBOURNE will be without Neville Jetta and Braydon Preuss on Wednesday night as the pair have been added to the Demons’ troubling injury list this week.
Jetta underwent surgery on his left knee on Tuesday after suffering a significant tear in his lateral meniscus against the Saints. The 29-year-old will now be sidelined for up to 12 weeks.
Preuss has also failed to recover in time for the ANZAC Day Eve clash with the Tigers but shouldn’t be sidelined for too long with his shoulder.
In positive news, Jordan Lewis pulled up well from his first game of the season and Jake Lever continues to make progress on his road back from that ACL injury.
Elite Performance Manager David Misson provides an update on all injury list changes below.
Injury List
Braydon Preuss | Shoulder – 1 week
“Preussy obviously had a bit of a shoulder injury in the Sydney game and did really well to get up for our game against St Kilda but pulled up reasonably sore. A four-day turnaround probably wasn’t quite enough for him to get up for the game but we’re hopeful that he’ll be available next week.”
Steven May | Groin – 4 weeks
“Maysie’s going pretty well. He’s had a couple of weeks of running and is backing it up well – not getting too sore. It’s about progressing his speed and agility and obviously then getting him into some training and setting him up for a good backend of the year.”
Aaron vandenBerg | Foot – 4-6 weeks
“Aaron’s obviously had a couple of minor setbacks with that ankle of his. We’re hoping to get him outside to start his re-loading program next week.”
Joel Smith | Groin – 4-6 weeks
“Similar to Maysie, Joel’s going pretty well. He’s had a couple of runs outside, it’s a matter of just progressing his speed and hoping his symptoms don’t come back as he starts running a bit quicker. At this stage it’s looking not too bad.”
Jake Lever | Knee – 4-5 weeks
Mitch Hannan | Knee – 4-5 weeks
“Mitch is doing some really good work. He did a 10km running session on Monday with the rehab group, and part of the footy session with the VFL boys last Friday and will do so again this Friday. He’s looking to come back into more and more training next week and we’re hoping Mitch is going to be back sooner rather than later.”
Jay Kennedy Harris | Knee – 4-6 weeks
“He’s probably surprised everyone with the way he’s come back. He started running a couple of weeks ago and has really gone from strength to strength, not getting any soreness in his knee. We’re probably looking to fast track his program a little bit. He’s looking really good so we’re looking to get him back into training in the next couple of weeks.”
Neville Jetta | Knee – 10-12
“Nev had an issue with his lateral meniscus. There was an incident in the second quarter that exacerbated that. He pulled up really sore after the game and after some consultation with our doc’s and surgeon, we decided to go down the surgical track.”
Kade Kolodjashnij | Concussion – TBA
“Kade obviously had some delayed concussion symptoms after the game against Essendon. He’s starting to come good – he’s been doing a little bit of spin bike work over the last couple of days and we’re hoping to get him outside for a run later in the week. We’ll just take that as it comes.”
Guy Walker | Shoulder – Indefinite
Aaron Nietschke | Knee – Season
