North Melbourne has put a remarkable 10-week time frame on a possible return for forward Charlie Comben after he suffered a badly broken leg last weekend.
Comben was in agony on the MCG after hurting himself early in the loss to Melbourne and was ferried straight to hospital from the ground.
He underwent surgery for a fibula fracture and also suffered a high-grade syndesmosis injury in the same incident.
The injury was so bad, broadcaster Channel 7 opted not to show any replays.
But the 21-year-old, who had played every game for the Kangaroos this season, could be back well before the end of the season.
“Charlie’s injury is similar to (ruckman) Tristan Xerri’s from round 1, so a high-grade syndesmosis with a fibula fracture,” North Melbourne head of performance Kevin White said.
“He had surgery straight after the game, and he’s in recovery mode.
“He‘s looking at a similar length of probably 10 weeks for his return to play.”
In better news for the battling Roos, who were smashed by 90 points, midfield gun Luke Davies-Uniacke is a chance to return after being a late withdrawal against the Demons.
And draftee George Wardlaw has been cleared of major damage after an incident in Saturday‘s reserves scratch match against St Kilda.
“At first he was assessed for his MCL and he had a scan on that, which showed it to be structurally sound,” White said.
“The main thing with George is that there’s a bit of bleeding and bruising around that knee joint that he’s dealing with at the minute.
“His plan (on Tuesday) will be to run on the AlterG, get him moving again, get his running mechanics up across the next two days and look to test at training at the back end of the week.”
