RECRUIT Pat McKenna will miss the next six to eight weeks with a hamstring injury, suffered playing for Casey Demons in its three-point win over Box Hill Hawks at Casey Fields last Saturday.
Elite performance manager Dave Misson said it was initially feared that McKenna would spend a lot longer on the sidelines.
“We thought it was a pretty serious one, potentially requiring surgery, but he consulted the surgeon last night (Monday), who felt that conservative rehab was the way to go,” he told Melbourne TV.
“He’ll probably be six to eight weeks, I reckon.”
Hard-nut Aaron vandenBerg (heel) is at a similar timeframe and will miss up to two months.
“Aaron’s come out of the moon boot and will look to run late next week,” Misson said.
“He’s going to definitely need at least six weeks probably from them.”
Misson said Colin Garland (knee) and Joel Smith (shoulder) underwent operations last week.
“Both went really well and they’re at different points of their rehab – Col’s an extended one and Joel’s just trying to get a little bit of movement back in that shoulder,” he said.
Defender Michael Hibberd (Achilles) remains another one to two weeks away, but Angus Brayshaw is right to play after copping a head knock against Carlton in Melbourne’s 22-point win at the MCG last Sunday.
“He’s (Hibberd) doing really well in rehab. He’s doing some quality sessions and we’ve earmarked him to play VFL round one, which is AFL round four,” he said.
“Angus was cleared to continue playing on game day and he’s pulled up fine since, so he’ll be right to train and play this week,” he said.
Melbourne injury list: round three
Angus Brayshaw (head knock) – available
Colin Garland (knee) – season
Michael Hibberd (Achilles) – 1-2 weeks
Jesse Hogan (suspension) – 2 weeks
Jay Kennedy-Harris (arm) – available
Liam Hulett (hip) – 1 week
Mitch King (knee) – 3 weeks
Jordan Lewis (suspension) – 3 weeks
Pat McKenna (hamstring) – 6-8 weeks
Joel Smith (shoulder) – 3-4 months
Aaron vandenBerg (heel) – 6-8 weeks
Bernie Vince (suspension) – available
Mitch White (ankle) – available
