The balancing act of players returning and departing due to injury continued on the weekend with Gold Coast SUNS key defender Steven May substituted out of the game against Sydney in the third quarter.
May was forced from the ground with an adductor strain that is at the lower end of the severity scale, but he is considered unlikely to face Fremantle and a forward line that consists of champion Matthew Pavlich, tackling machine Chris Mayne and emerging key tall Matt Taberner.
As one of Rodney Eade’s most important assets, the SUNS can ill afford to lose the Northern Territorian for a second stint given he only just returned after serving a three-game suspension.
“The main issue out of the game on the weekend was Steven May who came out of the game with a slight adductor strain,” GC SUNS High Performance boss, Matthew Kennedy, told SUNS TV on Tuesday afternoon.
“We’ll give him every chance during the week to come up. He’ll be tested on Thursday so we’re hopeful that he comes up but he’s a little touch and go at this stage.”
Matt Shaw and Harley Bennell were both late withdrawals from Gold Coast’s 22 on the weekend and the pair remain in some doubt to play against the Dockers.
Shaw fell victim to illness, whilst Bennell failed to overcome a calf strain. But the midfield pair will be put through a fitness test on Thursday to determine their availability.
“'Shawry’s' got a reasonably nasty viral infection. He’s just a bit flat, like May he’ll be given every opportunity to come up on the weekend – he’ll be tested on Thursday,” Kennedy said.
“(Bennell) He’s got a little bit of a strain in his calf, it’s an unusual calf strain but he’ll be given every opportunity to play.”
With such a dire state of injury affairs in Carrara, it is difficult to find many positives coming out of the medical room.
One turn of fortune is the return of versatile key position player Sam Day who will return at some level this weekend after overcoming a dislocated elbow back in round three.
“I suppose a good news story is Sam Day whose been progressing really nicely through his rehab with his elbow,” Kennedy said.
“He’s got some real strength back into that area, into the upper body, he’s done a lot of contact work the last couple of weeks.
“He’ll play on the weekend more than likely through the NEAFL to give him some game time and give him some confidence in that area. So finally a bit of a good news story.”
