UPDATE: 6:00pm Tuesday 19 April - Jason Johannisen will not require surgery on his injured hamstring. Click to view the full story.
Scans have confirmed Bulldogs half-back Jason Johannisen sustained a high-grade hamstring injury with tendon involvement in Saturday’s win over the Blues, but in positive news the scans revealed the hamstring hadn’t separated off the bone.
A decision will be made on the treatment options for the injured speedster, with General Manager of Football Graham Lowe telling westernbulldogs.com.au the Club was seeking further expert opinion on the best way forward.|
“He does have a high grade hamstring injury, but he doesn’t have separation of the hamstring from the bone” Lowe said.
“We’re considering our options, seeking further specialist advice, and we’ll know in the next 24 hours exactly how we plan to move forward.”
INJURY LIST: View the full Western Bulldogs injury list as at Monday, 18 April 2016.
Key forward Tom Boyd will also seek expert opinions in the coming days on his right shoulder that he injured in a ruck contest against the Blues.
“Tom suffered a injury in a ruck contest during the game to his shoulder, similar to an incident he had during the preseason,” Lowe said.
“The positive news from the scan is that there’s no further damage to the shoulder.
“We are seeking further specialist advice over the coming days, and we’ll determine the course of action from there.”
At VFL level, the news wasn’t good for half-back Josh Prudden, with scans today revealing he’d ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
“Through the scans we’ve found that he does have an ACL rupture, he did it through a hyper extension situation that occurred during the game,” Lowe told westernbulldogs.com.au
“He will have a conventional ACL reconstruction, and we’ll be working through that in the next few days.”
Meanwhile, Western Bulldogs skipper Bob Murphy will also undergo knee surgery in the coming days, deciding upon a conventional reconstruction of his injured left knee.
“Bob has considered the surgical options available to him, and he’s determined he’ll do the conventional ACL reconstruction,” Lowe said
“He’ll be having that done in the coming days.
“Once he’s had the surgery, we’ll give him all the time he needs to make a decision about his future and how he wishes to progress forward.
Pleasingly for club medical staff, Tory Dickson made a successful return at VFL level from a quad injury, and will put his name in the selection mix for Saturday night’s round five match against the Brisbane Lions.
Vice-captain Easton Wood will also be available for this week’s match, having recovered from hamstring tightness.
“He’s trained well, he’s trained fully, he’s ticking all right boxes and he’ll put himself in a position to be available for selection this week.”
Meanwhile, Matt Suckling has presented well after rolling his ankle in Saturday night’s match, and is also expected to be available for selection this weekend.
Suckling left the field in the third quarter, however returned to play out the game, collecting 27-disposals.
