Bulldogs energetic forward Cody Weightman is closing in on a return after battling an adductor complaint during the past month.
The 22-year-old is targeting Gather Round against the Power as his first game of the season, needing to get through a number of training sessions over the next fornight before being considered for selection.
"We have been very calculated and systematic in Cody’s conservative progressions over the last three weeks to make sure that we build durability and adaptation in the area that he was suffering some overload issues,” Head of Sports Medicine, Chris Bell said.
“He is now in the final stages of his rehab plan – and will be exposed to our full training loads this week.
“If he is able to tolerate these full training loads, he will be exposed to a game-like training session this weekend, ahead of hopefully returning to availability the following week.”
Taylor Duryea missed last weekend’s narrow victory over Brisbane through illness, but will be available this Saturday.
“Taylor Duryea became unwell towards the back end of the week, so unfortunately had to miss the game last week,” Bell said.
“He has now fully recovered and trained well today – so he will return to availability for this weekend."
Roarke Smith continues to recover from a plantar fascia injury with his return to play timeline still unclear.
“Roarke started to progress his running loads and unfortunately he is again battling some plantar fasica symptoms in his foot,” Bell said.
“As we know from managing this type of injury previously, it can be volatile and slow to settle – making it hard for us to be categoric in setting accurate return to play timelines.
“We will need to be patient and wait for the area to fully heal before we get him back on his feet and work towards getting him back into some running.”
Injury List:
Taylor Duryea (illness): available
Cody Weightman (groin) 1-2 weeks
Laith Vandermeer (leg): 2-4 weeks
Harvey Gallagher (hamstring): 4-6 weeks
Roarke Smith (foot): TBC
Dom Bedendo (groin): indefinite
