Second Setback in two weeks for the Dons adds to NAB cup shortage

A couple of unfortunate and football unrelated setbacks have hindered the preparations for two of Essendon’s players over the last couple of weeks. The first being Star ruckman David Hille becoming the unfortunate target of a stingray attack, and the second being new recruit Michael Hurley being diagnosed with a “non-functional gall bladder” and requiring surgery to have it removed.

Hille was down at the beach on Sunday 18th of January holding his own extra recovery session when he was stun by the stingray. As a consequence he spent the night in hospital and required surgery to remove the stingray barb from his leg. He missed most training sessions in the week following and only returned on Friday to do some light running. Fortunately Hille did not experience the same pain at training that previous players (Daniel Kerr and Jarrod Grant) have felt following their attacks. This setback comes on top of his mild hamstring injury which had forced Hille onto a modified training program for the previous four weeks. Hille has been positive about the incident stating that the sting probably gave the hamstring a few extra days to rest which would have been good for it. He will likely miss the first round of the NAB cup and Matthew Knights has suggested that Tom Bellchambers will be given the majority of the ruckwork for this time also with the likely absence of Jason Laycock.

Hurley on the other hand is likely to miss most of the NAB cup after having keyhole surgery to remove his gall bladder. This means that he will not get the desired preparation for the season that I am sure he and the coaches want. He is expected to be fully recovered in four weeks time, which is long after the NAB cup commences.

The loss of these two players means that the Bombers could be up to 12 men short from their best 22 for the NAB cup. With players like Jobe Watson, Patrick Ryder and Courtney Dempsey all recovering from shoulder injuries and Mark McVeigh having just returned to training after a fractured toe the door is well and truly open for some of the youngsters to get a few games under their belt. Coach Matthew Knights does expect that his team will be close to full strength for round one of the 2009 Home and Away season, but with many players with modified pre-seasons it will be interesting to see what team is picked come selection time.

Tags: David Hille, Michael Hurley