Star Hawks hit for six
HAWTHORN will be without injured stars Cyril Rioli and Paul Puopolo for up to six weeks. Rioli suffered a knee injury and Puopolo strained a hamstring in the Hawks’ resounding win over Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.
Rioli drove his right knee into the turf in the second quarter as he tried to evade a tackle and didn’t appear after half-time. It is the same knee that kept the four-time premiership star sidelined after round eight last season.
“Cyril has a moderate grade medial ligament injury,” performance manager Andrew Russell said.
Puopolo injured his right hamstring chasing down and tackling Demons defender Jake Lever in the third quarter.
He limped off the ground clutching the back of his leg in clear discomfort, sparking fears he had suffered a severe injury that could require surgery.
CARLTON will be without captain Marc Murphy for the next month. Murphy was forced to pull out of the Blues’ loss to North Melbourne on Saturday after injuring his foot in the warm-up.
Scans have since revealed damage to his plantar fascia.
While it’s a blow to Carl- ton’s immediate hopes of winning its first game in 2018, the injury has been known to sideline players for far longer.
Blues head of football Andrew McKay updated fans on Murphy as well as Darcy Lang and Sam Docherty.
“Scans have revealed he’s done some damage to his plantar fascia, which is the material that runs along the bottom of the foot,” he told the club website.
“The doctors are saying he’ll be out for the next four weeks, which is really unfortunate for us and Marc, but it gives someone else an opportunity to fill that spot.”
Lang, recruited from Geelong in the off-season, hasn’t been sighted in navy blue this season but is nearing a return from an ankle injury.
“Darcy Lang’s made some real progress over the last few weeks. He’s available for selection although he’s been out of football for quite some time, so he won’t be available for senior selection,” McKay said.
“Caleb Marchbank obviously rolled his ankle a couple of weeks ago. That’s pressing along quite well, he’s back running now which is great but still probably three weeks away.
Docherty is running at training but still faces a long road as he recovers from a knee reconstruction. “He’s progressing well but he’s still some time away,” McKay said.
MELBOURNE revealed veteran midfielder Jordan Lewis had played most of Sunday’s heavy loss to Hawthorn with a fractured finger.
The former Hawk was criticised as one of several players who failed to impose themselves on the lopsided contest at the MCG.
But the Demons have revealed he had been playing under significant duress. “Jordy suffered a fracture to his hand — his fourth finger — in the second quarter, so he’s actually done really well to play the rest of the game,” performance manager Dave Misson said yesterday.
“But unfortunately, he’ll miss the Richmond game.
“He had surgery (on Monday) and had a plate put in that hand. We’re hoping he’s only going to miss one (game), but maybe a little bit longer than that. “We think he’s a pretty good healer and the surgeon was happy with what he did.” The 31-year-old will miss the Anzac Day eve clash with the Tigers at the MCG, and is in doubt for the round-six match against Essendon.