THE experience of Matthew Kreuzer and Dale Thomas could provide a boost for the Blues’ young side, with the duo in line to return for Carlton’s clash with the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.
Head of Football Andrew McKay confirmed the pair would need to face fitness testing in the back end of the week before the Blues fly out to the Gold Coast on Friday.
“Matthew didn’t play on the weekend - he had it off after he had an increased heart rate the game before. We are treating him quite conservatively so he will see the specialist again this week to determine whether he will be available to play, so he will be a test at the end of the week,” McKay said.
“Dale was a late withdrawal from the game on the weekend. He suffered a cut on it (knee) in the week before, and there was some bone bruising around that knee cap too. We think he’ll be okay for this week, but he’ll need some testing at the end of the week to determine that.”
On Monday, the Blues confirmed their sixth and seventh players to sustain season-ending injuries with both Liam Jones and Zac Fisher being ruled out for the rest of the season.
“Unfortunately as we know, Liam strained his medial ligament on the weekend and will be out for the rest of the year. The silver lining I suppose is that he'll be ready for pre-season once that starts," McKay said.
“Zac Fisher was also injured in that game against Hawthorn on the weekend. Unfortunately, he has a crack in his fibula which is a small bone in the lower half of his leg.
“He’ll be out for the rest of the year unfortunately as well and in a boot for the next four or five weeks before slowly increasing his running. Pleasingly he’ll be ready for the start of the pre-season and there won’t be any lingering effects there.”
The duo joins an extensive list of players with long-term injuries including Sam Docherty (knee), Lachie Plowman (knee), Alex Silvagni (achilles), Tom Williamson (back) and Andrew Phillips (hamstring) - all ruled out for the season.
Speedster Kym Lebois is also one of the Blues’ latest injury casualties, sustaining a strained hamstring in the Northern Blues’ clash on Sunday.
“Unfortunately Kym strained his hamstring in the VFL game on the weekend. It’s a reasonable strain too so he’ll likely be out for about four weeks,” McKay said.
McKay said Harrison Macreadie (hamstring) and Patrick Kerr (soreness) would need to complete their training loads this week before being declared fit to return to the Northern Blues’ line-up for Saturday's match against Frankston at Ikon Park.
“Harrison has been out for quite some time with that hamstring, but he’ll be a test at the end of the week. We’re confident he’ll be back playing VFL though,” McKay said.
“Pat was a bit sore last week so he didn’t play at any level. We’re confident he’ll be okay by the end of the week to play.”
Meanwhile, Sam Kerridge could return this weekend as he increases his training capacity after managing a groin niggle in recent weeks.
“Sam has been out for quite some time with the groin injury. He has been training really well the past couple of weeks and he’ll be a test at the end of the week.”
Irishman Cillian McDaid will be sidelined for approximately two weeks after scans determined a hotspot in his foot.
“Cillian has a bit of a hotspot on his foot. We’re treating that conservatively so he’ll be back in a couple of weeks’ time all things going well,” McKay said.
Young pair David Cuningham (hamstring) and Jesse Glass-McCasker (knee) remain three to four weeks away respectively from making their returns.
“Jesse Glass-McCasker has a medial ligament strain from a few weeks ago. He is progressing nicely and remains about three weeks away from a return to field," McKay said.
“We know David strained his hamstring a couple of weeks ago. It was a reasonable strain so he’ll be about four weeks away too.”
Injury list pre-Round 19:
Matthew Kreuzer – Heart – Test
Harrison Macreadie – Hamstring – Test
Dale Thomas – Knee – Test
Pat Kerr – Soreness – Test
Sam Kerridge – Groin – Test
Cillian McDaid – Foot – 2 weeks
Jesse Glass-McCasker – Knee – 3 weeks
Kym Lebois – Hamstring – 4 weeks
David Cuningham – Hamstring – 4 weeks
Zac Fisher – Leg – Season
Liam Jones – Knee - Season
Sam Docherty - Knee - Season
Lachie Plowman - Knee - Season
Alex Silvagni - Achilles - Season
Tom Williamson - Back - Season
Andrew Phillips - Hamstring - Season
