Wil Dawson has suffered a high-grade AC joint injury, sidelining him for the near future
Young defender Wil Dawson has suffered a shoulder injury, sidelining him for the near future.
The 2023 draftee sustained the high-grade AC joint injury in a groundball contest during the early stages of the Round 13 clash with West Coast at Optus Stadium and is currently in a sling.
He’s yet to have a timeframe for a return, with North Melbourne head of performance Kevin White saying Dawson “will be assessed once out of the sling to determine strength, function, and a return-to-play timeline based off how he recovers during this initial phase.”
Blake Drury is also set for a stint away from the action, having gone down in Saturday’s VFL clash against Coburg with a knee injury.
“Blake suffered an MCL injury,” White said.
“Scans revealed a moderate-grade injury. He will spend the next two weeks in a brace to allow good healing of that ligament, then he’ll progress through a loading rehab program.”
Colby McKercher (foot) and Griffin Logue (knee) are both closing in on returns and should be back on the park in one week.
“Last week was an important week for Colby in getting progressive loading on-field, pulling up well and transitioning from runners to football boots across the weekend,” White said.
“He had a strong footy conditioning session on Tuesday and will look to join in training Friday, plus another strong loading day on Sunday.
“Griff is now undergoing his return-to-play preparation phase, being unrestricted in group training.
“This is his final week of this phase before we see him return to play through VFL next week – all things going well.”
Defender Miller Bergman will be back in the selection mix, having recovered from a hamstring strain suffered in Round 10 against the Bombers.
“Miller had a game-loading field conditioning session over the weekend where he cleared his speed and intensity markers,” White said.
“This week he will slip into main group training and put his hand up for selection.”
Like Drury, Bigoa Nyuon failed to play out the VFL match at Arden St on Saturday, leaving the field in the second term with a hip pointer issue.
However, he’ll be available for the weekend, as will Dylan Stephens, who was a late withdrawal from the reserves’ side due to illness but is now symptom-free.
“‘Biggie’ was acutely sore and limited with function, and a conservative call was made to keep him on the bench,” White said of Nyuon.