Star onballer Tim Kelly’s excellent second season at West Coast is set to be stalled for about a month following his knee injury suffered against Essendon.
Kelly sustained a grade two medial ligament strain during the second quarter and will join experienced Eagles teammates Luke Shuey (hamstring), Jeremy McGovern (knee) and Liam Duggan (knee) on the sidelines for multiple weeks.
“Tim sustained a medial collateral ligament injury in the second quarter and was subbed out,” Eagles physiotherapist Mark Finucane told westcoasteagles.com.au.
“He’ll be in a brace for a few weeks.
“Hopefully it’s in that four-or-five-week range.”
Young gun Oscar Allen (concussion) has also been ruled out of Sunday’s clash with Carlton after he landed heavily from a marking attempt on Saturday night.
“’Ozzie’ after the first day or so feeling a bit foggy he’s come pretty good today, so he had a light spin today on the bike and tolerated that well, and that’s part of the protocols,” Finucane said.
“He’ll just progress through those and looking at missing one week as per the (concussion) protocol.”
West Coast’s cavalry is set to return soon after the bye, with Shuey, McGovern and Duggan all building their workloads in rehab.
“’Bootsy’ (Shuey) we’ll see in with the main group tomorrow as part of his build. He each week builds the volume and the intensity,” Finucane said.
“We’ll see him get some higher speeds in training tomorrow and building towards that game-like volume of training as well.
“He’s on the right trajectory but he’s still got that three-or-four-week build from where he is at the moment, but so far so good.
“’Duggo’ has had a couple of runs on ground now and by all reports moving really sharply and the knee is tolerating that.
“He’s got a two or three-week build. We’ll get a real indication of how the knee tolerates the more football-specific loading.
“’Gov’ started his straight-line running on ground yesterday and the knee has pulled up well.
“He will build his straight-line running intensity, then introduce the change of direction before progressing into the footy-specific work.
“Still a few boxes to tick along there but the knee is going well.”
Recruit Alex Witherden is another Eagle facing a month-long stint out of action after groin soreness saw him pull out of the round 10 clash with Greater Western Sydney.
“Alex had a gentle walk-jog yesterday and tolerated that well but he’s got a slow progression. We won’t rush that and just monitor his response to each of those progressions,” Finucane said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Eagles confirmed forwards Daniel Venables (concussion) and Jarrod Cameron (ankle) had been placed on the inactive list, allowing the club up to two picks in the mid-season rookie draft.
Cameron was sighted at Mineral Resources Park joining in handball drills in a moon boot, which he will wear for several more weeks.
“He’ll be a few weeks in the boot. We’ll just not push the limits with that one, allow that completely to heal up and build from there,” Finucane said.
Injury list:
Oscar Allen Concussion 1 week
Jarrod Cameron Ankle TBC
Liam Duggan Knee 3-4 weeks
Tim Kelly Knee 4-5 weeks
Jeremy McGovern Knee 3-4 weeks
Luke Shuey Hamstring 3-4 weeks
Daniel Venables Concussion TBC
Isiah Winder Knee 5-6 weeks
Alex Witherden Groin 4-5 weeks
