Gehrig, Dick Hit By Injury
The Sunday Age
Sunday February 24, 2008
ST KILDA'S progression to a Friday night NAB Cup semi-final against Essendon was soured somewhat yesterday by a calf strain to Fraser Gehrig, while in Albany, promising Collingwood youngster Brad Dick sustained a knee injury that is expected to require a full reconstruction and end his season.
It seems Dick will join Fremantle's Paul Hasleby and Sydney's Nick Malceski on the sidelines for all of 2008. And the Swans also could be without fringe player Kristin Thornton, who received a serious knee injury during a practice match against Port Adelaide."It (Dick's knee) doesn't look good at this stage, but we will await the scans to see if it does reveal the worst," Collingwood assistant coach Guy McKenna said.The Pies, who have travelled many thousand kilometres in the past three weeks, tried to protect the bulk of their senior playing list by sending an inexperienced team to face West Coast, with many of the stars going to Skilled Stadium to play - and comfortably beat - the Geelong reserves.The Saints inflicted the first defeat of 2008 on premier Geelong in a five-point thriller at Manuka Oval, but Gehrig's injury endangers the prodigal full-forward's chances of hitting the season proper running.It was a victory that coach Ross Lyon kept in the perspective demanded of the occasion, no doubt mindful that the Cats are 9-4 to the good from their past 13 meetings for premiership points."It means we're through to the third week, we get to build for round one a little bit more and we don't fly, so that's a win," Lyon said.Without Gehrig, who stopped short in a second-quarter marking contest and immediately hobbled from the field."It's not ideal, but it won't affect him you wouldn't think for round one," Lyon said of the 31-year-old, who retired last year after 255 matches, only to change his mind and return to the club via the 57th pick in the national draft. "We've got to assess."The Saints also finished the game without Justin Koschitzke, who kicked five goals, and full-back Max Hudghton, although despite the latter experiencing hamstring tightness, the club said both had simply played their allotted game-time.Geelong's Nathan Djerrkura left the ground in the third quarter with a lower leg injury and Travis Varcoe faces assessment of an ankle injury.Lyon said centre half-forward Nick Riewoldt would be assessed ahead of Friday night, but scoffed at pre-season gossip that has him carrying a serious knee injury. "If you listen to the rumour mill, he's never going to play again. I'm pretty confident we'll see him," Lyon said.Geelong coach Mark Thompson was unmoved by the result, drawing positives out of the game in the form of the Joels, Corey and Selwood, on their return to the team, and full-forward Tom Hawkins, who kicked four goals."They (Corey and Selwood) both got held back last week and we rested a few this week," Thompson said."To have them back and for them to have a big influence - I think Joel (Corey) ended up with 35 possessions and a lot of clearances, Selwood the same."The Cats must fly north for a practice match against Brisbane Lions on Friday at Carrara, which would mark the returns of captain Tom Harley, Jimmy Bartel, Steve Johnson and David Wojcinski, along with the first outing of 2008 for Matthew Scarlett and Paul Chapman. -- With AAP
© 2008 The Sunday Age
