Dondray injury a worry for Corio Bay

CORIO Bay will wait to learn the extent of an ankle injury to star import Dondray Walker after he limped off in the Stingrays’ shock loss to Ringwood on Saturday night.

Walker went over on his ankle going up for a rebound early in the third quarter of the opening Big V Championship grand final series game. The American sought treatment yesterday and coach Mark Leader said he would find out the full extent of Walker’s injury at training tonight.

“He (Walker) seems to think it will be all right for next weekend. But you never know,” Leader said.

The table-topping Stingrays were stunned by Ringwood at The Rings on Saturday night, going down 95-70 in a match they trailed at every break.

It means Corio Bay must win both of its two matches at home next week to secure the Big V title.

Leader admitted Walker’s injury cruelled Corio Bay’s winning chances, struggling to put a score on the board with its star on the bench.

“We were down nine or eight at the time (of the injury). It kind of set us back a little bit,” he said. “We always knew we would be in the game but once Dondray went down it left us one scorer short.

“It was a 15-point game for most of the game. In the end I took some players out knowing the game was lost and it (the margin) got out a little bit.”

Leader said he remained confident his side could win two cut-throat finals next week. He said Ringwood had shown its hand tactically, switching to a zone defence rather than the man-on-man it favoured during the season.

“They were the first team all year (that did that),” Leader said. “We have a week to prepare for it again, so we will be fine.”