Cunnington return suffers setback

THE Covid crisis at North Melbourne has pushed Ben Cunnington’s return from testicular cancer back at least one week, but the midfield star is adamant he’ll make an AFL return in 2022.

Rising star Paul Curtis is among four players who have tested positive and he’ll miss the clash with Essendon on Sunday, while key forward Nick Larkey is expected to play after missing last week’s loss to Hawthorn with a heel injury.

Interim coach Leigh Adams, who also tested positive to Covid but will be out of isolation in time for the game, said Cunnington was set to play his first game since July last year in the VFL this weekend, playing “limited minutes”, before catching the virus.

Cunnington, a two-time best and fairest winner who required treatment for a secondary diagnosis in November before suffering a calf strain just after returning to training in the main group, is now sidelined with Covid.

Adams said the plan was to get the 31-year-old midfield bull back to the AFL this year. But he had some “pretty heavy symptoms”, with his immune system compromised by cancer treatment, and may take some time to recover.

“We’re really disappointed for him. Sometimes you just don’t know what to say to him,” Adams said.

“He‘s got some pretty heavy symptoms … going into a game without any training, obviously off what he’s come off just wasn’t worth the risk.

“It’s been setback after setback for him, probably the last couple of setbacks are insignificant to the ones that he’s been through. He’s such a resilient guy and he’s able to move on really quickly and just see what’s next in front of him.

“Fingers crossed he gets a clean run at it because clearly we are running out of a bit of time to get him back in to the team. He’s really keen to get some footy under his belt this year.”