Gold Coast mature-aged rookie Adam Saad will miss another week of football as he continues to battle the groin issues that have plagued him in recent weeks.
 
Unfortunately, Saad, along with ruckman Tom Nicholls will miss the trip to Adelaide, but spearhead Charlie Dixon remains a chance to return from the ankle injury that kept him out of Saturday’s 15-point loss to GWS.
 
After emerging as one of the more dazzling young prospects in the competition, Saad has missed the last fortnight due to early signs of the dreaded osteitis pubis.
 
The focus moving forward will be on managing the young defender’s workload so he can return for the remainder of the season.
 
“At the moment we’re just dealing with some groin issues,” GC SUNS head physiotherapist Adam Russell told SUNS TV on Tuesday afternoon.
 
“Load management becomes a really big issue for him. It’s only his first year, big step up coming from VFL. Obviously we’d have liked to have managed his loads a little bit easier but with the injuries we’ve had we’ve been unable to.
 
“So he’ll miss another week, we’ll gradually progress his load this week and hopefully have him back in full training next week.”
 
Nicholls was substituted out of Saturday’s game in the early part of the opening quarter after several knocks re-aggravated a corked quad that has troubled him in recent weeks.
 
The ruckman has played the last 12 games in a row – the longest streak of his injury interrupted career. But that will come to an end with Nicholls set to miss the trip south to allow him to overcome the nagging impediment.
 
“Tommy Nicholls got a cork in his right thigh early in the game. This is the same spot that he’d had corks on in the last couple of weeks,” Russell said.
 
“We got him back out there, but unfortunately at the centre bounce he copped another knee straight onto it, so he was unable to continue.”
 
After being substituted out of the Western Bulldogs game in Cairns with another ankle issue, Dixon will be put through a fitness test on Thursday to prove his fitness ahead of Saturday’s game at Adelaide Oval.
 
“Dicko’s progressing really well with his ankle. He’s done straight line running up until today,” Russell said.
 
“We plan to further progress that on Thursday at main training and see if he’s available to play.”
 
Rodney Eade will be hoping his prized forward is cleared fit to play given the likelihood Adelaide All Australian key defender Daniel Talia is in doubt for the game after suffering a concussion against Port Adelaide on Sunday.