Injured Sun urged to show patience
SUNS defender Kade Kolodjashnij has urged injured teammate Pearce Hanley to learn from Gary Ablett’s mistakes and show patience to ensure he doesn’t prolong his shoulder problems.
Gold Coast are weighing up whether to put Hanley under the knife after he dislocated his shoulder in his footy return against Fremantle on Saturday, the second time it has happened this year.
Avoiding surgery after the first incident was a gamble that backfired and Kolodjashnij has called on one of the team’s premier talents not to rush back and risk doing more damage.
Ablett, the Suns’ former skipper, endured more than two seasons of shoulder issues despite multiple surgeries, coming in and out of the side several times due to ongoing problems.
“I think patience is the number one thing for Pearcey,” Kolodjashnij said.
“He will want to get back out as quick as he can and maybe he was a week or two early this time, I’m not sure.
“It’s just going to take time now. I’m sure the high performance team will be across it as well.
“Patience is the key and to let it settle. Hopefully he gets back to 100 per cent and gets back out for us.”
Kolodjashnij left the field in Gold Coast’s loss to the Dockers after colliding with the post and hurting his shoulder.
He required a cortisone injection at three-quarter time but the 22-year-old said he was confident it wouldn’t keep him out of this Saturday’s clash with West Coast.
Gold Coast remain in Western Australia ahead of their back-to-back games at Optus Stadium.
Members of the team used their proximity to their rivals to their advantage on Sunday by attending West Coast’s win over Geelong as part of a rare scouting mission, something the Queensland club rarely gets to do.
“It was a good chance to see how they go about it and get some information out of that with the way they like to play,” Kolodjashnij said.
The Suns have relocated from Perth’s CBD to an apartment complex on the water in Fremantle this week to keep the players as relaxed as possible on a long away trip.