Emerging defender Ryan Gardner looks set to miss up to two months of football, after sustaining a shoulder injury in Good Friday’s big win over North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium.
The 23-year-old suffered an AC joint injury early in the first quarter, forcing the Bulldogs to activate their medical sub in Pat Lipinski.
Gardner will have surgery this week.
“Ryan had some side impact in the opening minutes of the game, that damaged his AC joint,” Head of Sports Medicine, Chris Bell, said.
“The AC joint was damaged to an extent that did require surgery, and we expect ‘Gardy’ to miss the next six-to-eight weeks of football.”
Off-season recruit Mitch Hannan has also suffered a minor setback, colliding with a North Melbourne player in the third quarter of the VFL scratch match at VU Whiten Oval on Good Friday morning.
Hannan did not return to the field after the incident, in what was his first hit-out since overcoming a persistent groin injury over the off-season.
“Mitch has come in really well, so we’ll work closely with our doctors through our concussion protocol,” Bell said.
“We fully expect Mitch to be available for our round one VFL match in the coming weeks.”
Injury List
Mitch Hannan (concussion) – test
Hayden Crozier (shoulder) – 1-2 weeks
Ed Richards (ankle) – 4-6 weeks
Ryan Gardner (shoulder) – 6-8 weeks
Toby McLean (knee) – 8-10 weeks
