The Age
Jake Niall and Rohan Connolly | May 4, 2007
ESSENDON skipper Matthew Lloyd has injured a hamstring and will miss tomorrow's game against Hawthorn.
Club sources last night confirmed that Lloyd had strained the same left hamstring that kept him out of the last 19 games of 2006.
While scans were done yesterday and the injury was still being assessed, the expectation was that the hamstring problem was relatively minor, but it is still likely to keep him out for at least two matches.
Lloyd's history of having had major surgery to the hamstring in his left leg — he had an operation to repair the hamstring he tore off the bone in round three last season — means the Bombers will be conservative with their 29-year-old captain.
The club still hopes that it will prove less severe than a grade-one tear — which usually takes two to three weeks to heal — and might only be categorised as soreness.
Lloyd was last night named at full-forward, but will be replaced by Courtney Johns, who is named on the interchange bench.
It is unclear precisely when Lloyd hurt the hamstring. He took a severely corked thigh into the Anzac Day match which required treatment in a hyperbaric chamber. Although his movement was somewhat restricted, he still managed to boot three goals.
One of the Bombers' emergencies — Jobe Watson, Bachar Houli or Sam Lonergan — will come into the team. Watson and Kepler Bradley had been dropped from the team, with experienced midfielder Jason Johnson named to play his first senior game this season.
Johnson, who had a pre-season toe injury, has been in outstanding form for Bendigo Bombers in the VFL since his return. Defender Andrew Welsh returns from a hamstring strain, as does important speedster Jason Winderlich.
Jake Niall and Rohan Connolly | May 4, 2007
ESSENDON skipper Matthew Lloyd has injured a hamstring and will miss tomorrow's game against Hawthorn.
Club sources last night confirmed that Lloyd had strained the same left hamstring that kept him out of the last 19 games of 2006.
While scans were done yesterday and the injury was still being assessed, the expectation was that the hamstring problem was relatively minor, but it is still likely to keep him out for at least two matches.
Lloyd's history of having had major surgery to the hamstring in his left leg — he had an operation to repair the hamstring he tore off the bone in round three last season — means the Bombers will be conservative with their 29-year-old captain.
The club still hopes that it will prove less severe than a grade-one tear — which usually takes two to three weeks to heal — and might only be categorised as soreness.
Lloyd was last night named at full-forward, but will be replaced by Courtney Johns, who is named on the interchange bench.
It is unclear precisely when Lloyd hurt the hamstring. He took a severely corked thigh into the Anzac Day match which required treatment in a hyperbaric chamber. Although his movement was somewhat restricted, he still managed to boot three goals.
One of the Bombers' emergencies — Jobe Watson, Bachar Houli or Sam Lonergan — will come into the team. Watson and Kepler Bradley had been dropped from the team, with experienced midfielder Jason Johnson named to play his first senior game this season.
Johnson, who had a pre-season toe injury, has been in outstanding form for Bendigo Bombers in the VFL since his return. Defender Andrew Welsh returns from a hamstring strain, as does important speedster Jason Winderlich.
