Injured Henderson hopes to be back within a month
GEELONG defender Lachie Henderson is hopeful of returning from his plantar fascia injury within the next month, but admits it is hard to put a time frame on his recovery.
The veteran Cat played in Geelong’s Round 3 win over Adelaide, but has struggled with the foot injury since.
It is the same injury that plagued fellow veteran defender Harry Taylor last year, but not as severe.
Henderson is confident the Cats’ medical staff picked up the problem early enough for it not to derail his season.
“It’s a little plantar fascia injury, nothing too serious yet. But we have seen these things go bad so we have just got to get on top of it early,” Henderson said.
“Mine is nowhere near where his (Taylor’s) was yet. We have caught it early and we are just being really smart with it.
“The plan is to have one, two, three weeks (out), inside that. But it literally could be anything.
“We just need to let it settle down and make sure it’s right before I come back.”
Henderson, who is out of contract at season’s end, was forced to fight for his spot inside Geelong’s best 22, finding himself out of the side for the opening two wins of the season. But a minor hamstring injury to Jack Henry opened the door for his return against the Crows.
The plantar fascia setback couldn’t have come at a worse time for Henderson, with competition for spots in Geelong’s backline at an all-time high.
“We have probably got nine or 10 blokes that we could easily — and be more than happy to — play there,” Henderson told K rock Football. “Jed Bews is sitting in the stands at the moment and there are a few playing VFL at the moment that have been held out.
“We have got a great group down there, we love playing with each other down there. We are a team within a team.
“We are really enjoying it and having Scarlo (Matthew Scarlett) as the coach is great as well.”