Injured Geelong ruckman Nathan Vardy, right, alongside Josh Cowan. Picture: Mike Dugdale. Source: Geelong Advertiser
SIDELINED Geelong ruckman Nathan Vardy faces an uphill battle to play Round 1 as he continues to be grounded by a groin problem.
Cats assistant coach James Rahilly yesterday admitted the 198cm big man, who missed the end of 2011 and the majority of last year with a serious hip injury, remained a "week to week" prospect.
Vardy is yet to play in the NAB Cup and has been on a restricted training program, meaning he will enter the home and away season on the back of limited preparation.
Rahilly said Vardy's return date remained unclear but hopes the 21-year-old, who has been likened to a young Nick Riewoldt, will be fit in time for Round 1.
"We're very cautious on Nathan," Rahilly said.
"He's a bit of a week-to-week process. He's starting to get out there and do a little bit as well, but it's a bit week-by-week with him."
Mathew Stokes, who injured his ankle against West Coast in game one of the NAB Cup, is earmarked to return next week for the last match of the pre-season.
Stokes is still in Geelong's injury rehab group but is getting more confident with every session and moved well yesterday.
"He might struggle to play this week but he is training quite well. He's doing a lot of the running, a lot of changing of direction, he's coming up really well," Rahilly said.
Luckless forward Daniel Menzel remains on track for a Round 1 comeback via the VFL in his recovery from a third knee reconstruction.
Menzel trained with the forward group and also tested his knee with a series of individual drills, including tackling, changes of direction and marks on a lead.
Veteran Paul Chapman has been declared fit to play against the Kangaroos after being subbed out with a minor quad injury against the Crows and moved well in yesterday's session.
Rahilly said Menzel was in good spirits and counting down the days until his footy comeback.
"His progress has been really good," he said.
"Being the forward coach, I have him in my office once a week and we go through how he's going.
"There's been weeks where it hasn't been as good, but now he's getting closer (to Round 1) - he's getting the football boots on, he's doing a bit of running around and getting the ball in his hands - the season's not too far away and he's pretty excited and we're excited as well."
The Cats will have some tough decisions to make in regards to their ruckmen for Round 1 against Hawthorn.
While they hope Hamish McIntosh and Trent West will be available, their combined lack of match practice will create headaches at selection.
"That's going to be a tough decision," Rahilly said.
"I think all three (McIntosh, West and Vardy) will be reasonably close to Round 1.
"So it's up to the match committee to decide - and the physios and fitness guys - `have they done enough conditioning?', `are they right to go?'.
"We are pushing them to be close to Round 1. But if that happens, we're not sure yet."
Young forward Shane Kersten is also carrying a heel injury but the Cats are confident a managed approach will ensure it does not develop into a bigger problem.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Vardy pushes to be fit for round one
Dengan url
http://caraseopemula.blogspot.com/2013/03/vardy-pushes-to-be-fit-for-round-one.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Vardy pushes to be fit for round one
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Vardy pushes to be fit for round one
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar