Broekhoff on guard over eye injury return

SOUTH East Melbourne Phoenix star Ryan Broekhoff may wear a face guard when he returns from a serious eye injury as early as next week.

Broekhoff won’t play in Saturday’s Throwdown against Melbourne United after suffering an inadvertent elbow to his left eye from Bullets guard Nathan Sobey in Round 16.

The Boomers swingman experienced blurred vision and was sent to hospital, where it was revealed he had damaged his eye socket.

Broekhoff also had bleeding in the eye, which has forced a cautious approach with the NBL finals and a potential Olympic call-up looming.

“It is just going to take a little time to heal, and we are looking at options at how it can be protected or covered,” Broekhoff said.

“A (protective guard) is not hugely done over here in Australia, you don’t really see it too often, so we are trying to talk to some doctors who have dealt with players wearing masks, or some sort of protective gear on their faces, and whether it works and if it is beneficial.

“So, we are looking at all the options, just to be smart and safe, but also to try and get out there as quickly as possible.”

Broekhoff is yet to resume training with Phoenix.

The former Dallas Mavericks guard is feeling significantly better than when he first arrived in hospital last week.

“The pupil on the eye that got hit was quite a lot smaller than the other side,” he said.

“So they were just concerned for my vision, and there was a little bit more damage than just a few stitches I received. They also found bleeding in the eye, which was part of the reason for the pupil being such a different size.

“They gave me some drops to help clear the blood out, and it just took a few days for that to improve, and my eyesight is back to normal now.

“But, unfortunately, there was a little bit more damage to the eye socket than we were hoping for.”