Carlton have suffered a major injury blow, with star midfielder Patrick Cripps set for an interrupted AFL pre-season after injuring his back.
Cripps will be sidelined for up to three months, with scans revealing he has suffered a stress reaction in his lower back after experiencing discomfort during training on Wednesday.
“While the news is disappointing, the positive is we have diagnosed the condition early, minimising his time on the sidelines,” Carlton football boss Andrew McKay said on Thursday.
“Given his professionalism and determination, we are confident Patrick will be ready for the 2017 pre-season competition.”
At just 21, Cripps is already widely considered Carlton’s most important player.
The powerful midfielder won the Blues’ best and fairest award in 2015 and was runner-up for the AFL Rising Star award.
He continued his strong form this year, placing third in the best and fairest count and averaging 27 disposals per game.
With players gradually returning to the track, Carlton’s list is otherwise relatively healthy.
Blues captain Marc Murphy has returned to full training after being sidelined for most of this season with an ankle injury.
New recruits Caleb Marchbank (shoulder) and Jarrod Pickett (foot) are on restricted programs, while Ciaran Byrne is continuing to recover after undergoing a knee reconstruction.
Bob Mugabe
Guest
A lot of pre season training is a load of tripe anyhow. You always see the players out partying and carrying on during summer so there is not terribly much hard work going on.
The Original Buzz
Guest
I agree with Col, this is just more of your drivel.
mattyb
Guest
Calm down Col,I've clearly stated this is bad news,you need to put your born to rule feelings aside,clearly somebody is going to need to step up and the candidates all have huge question marks,that's just discussion It also might need to be considered that SOSs enormous ego or lack of recruiting skill without concessoins that has him constantly going back to GWS might be putting to much of a work load on young Cripps with very little support from anyone else in his onball position which has led to this injury that by all reports sounds very serious. I'm really hoping though the typical Carlton impatience is put aside this time and young Crippps is given the chance to recover properly.
Macca
Guest
17 weeks to go before round 1 - expected injury time 12 weeks, I think we will be fine, thanks for you concern though - now don't you have some billy goats to torment.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Only the lowest of lows would use an article on an injury to a young player as an excuse to spew his usual Carlton vitriol - what a disgrace.
mattyb
Guest
After the wheels fell off Carltons season last year and minimal injuries this is not great news for the Blues. When added to the fact fellow onballer Bryce Gibbs no longer wants to play for them their waffer thin midfield looks shaky so let's hope Murphy can become less injury prone this season or that Thomas can start justifying his large salary on the list.