KEY RECRUIT Chris Dawes could miss up to month, after he reinjured his hamstring.
Football manager Josh Mahoney indicated Dawes would be available to return in rounds five or six.
“Chris is unfortunately having some ongoing issues with his hamstring,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“He’s injured it again during training last week, so at this stage, we’d be expecting the hamstring program to be three to four weeks away from playing.”
The 2010 Collingwood premiership player has featured in just one official match for Melbourne – its first NAB Cup clash against North Melbourne – since joining last October.
Another tall target in attack, Mitch Clark, who played his first AFL match since round 13 last year, due to a serious foot injury, will face a fitness test.
“We saw the incident with him where he essentially rolled his ankle,” he said.
“He’s recovered well from it, and he still has to get through some training, but he’ll be tested later in the week for Saturday night’s game.”
In better news for the Demons, co-captain Jack Trengove got further game time under his belt after playing for Casey last weekend. He will be in the mix this round.
And runner Rohan Bail is set to return for Casey this weekend after missing the NAB Cup with concussion.
“Rohan Bail is back available to play this week,” Mahoney said.
“He’s served his time away from competitive training. He’s trained fully the last couple of weeks.
“He’s available to play and all things going well this week, we expect him to play for Casey, which is great.”
Ruckman Max Gawn also returned for Casey in a VFL practice match last weekend and got through well, according to Mahoney.
“Max completed all of his rehab and played for Casey on the weekend,” he said.
“He played nearly three quarters of the game and he got through the game and pulled up well, which is a good sign.
“We’re looking for consistency from Max and hopefully he can remain injury free and have an uninterrupted period for Casey.”
Key defender Tom McDonald also came through strongly after returning the VFL last weekend.
“Tom returned for Casey after hurting his ankle four weeks ago,” Mahoney said.
“He’s had no soreness in his ankle, so he’s pulled up well and he’ll be in contention for this week’s game.”
Round 2 injury list
Rohan Bail (concussion) – available
Mitch Clark (ankle) – test
Chris Dawes (hamstring) – 3-4 weeks
Jack Fitzpatrick (concussion) – test
Joel Macdonald (hamstring) – 2-3 weeks
Nathan Stark (knee) – 2 weeks
