West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui has been dominated out for the remainder of the season after scans revealed he wants surgical procedure on his injured Achilles.
But Eagles coach Adam Simpson is adamant the 33-year-old, three-time All-Australian might make a “full recovery” and hasn’t performed his final sport within the AFL
Simpson confirmed on Wednesday the twin greatest and fairest winner had been dealt a recent blow after failing to play a sport this season following Achilles soreness which troubled him over the pre-season.
Alarm bells had been raised for West Coast followers on Tuesday when Naitanui’s return timeline was adjusted from six to seven weeks to “TBC” on the membership’s harm listing, with Simpson later confirming the three-time All-Australian would once more be sidelined indefinitely.
“He was tracking okay, stagnated a little bit and we had a follow-up scan recently and it looks like he’s going to need surgery, so it’s time to pull the pin on the season,” Simpson mentioned.
“We’ve got no choice unfortunately, so he’ll get surgery early next week maybe.”
“It’s a long stint out, so the season is out of the question. It’s something you can come back from.
“I’m not fully across the magnitude of the surgery but I know it’s something you can recover from and fully recover.”
West Coast head of well being Mark Finucane mentioned Naitanui had been seeing a specialist to deal with the harm, “as we attempt to gather as much information as we can to make a decision”.
Naitanui, 33, is contracted till the tip of 2024 after signing a two-year deal final September.
He performed eight video games in 2022 after battling persistent knee points, however managed to play all 22 video games the season earlier than following a irritating four-year interval the place he solely registered 52 video games.
The Eagles won’t be able to interchange Naitanui on their listing for the remainder of the season after they had been unable to maneuver him to the inactive listing earlier than final week’s mid-season draft.
Bailey Williams has taken on the No. 1 ruck mantle in Naitanui’s absence and has loved a gentle run of kind, averaging 13 disposals, 26 hit-outs and 4 clearances in his fifth season.
Callum Jamieson (22 years outdated, 13 video games) and Harry Barnett (19, but to debut) are the one different ruckmen on the Eagles’ listing.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
