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Carlton has played down the severity of superstar midfielder Sam Walsh’s injury worries as the opening of the 2024 AFL season creeps closer.
Walsh has been battling back troubles for over a year now, after his major surgery 14 months ago.
The 23-year-old was ruled out of the Blues 17-point loss to Geelong in Thursday’s practice match and will not take part in their next match before their Opening Round game against Brisbane.
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Carlton assistant coach Jordan Russell provided an update on Walsh’s condition ahead of the 2024 season, saying the club will take it slow to ensure the 2021 All-Australian can be at his fittest as their flag search continues.
“It’s a grumbly one. They’re still trying to figure out exactly what’s going on,” Russell said on SEN Radio on Friday.
“He just gets a bit of back soreness that flares up every now and again and because of the quality player that he is, you don’t want to rush these things.”
Russell declared they’ll work with Walsh on a slow build back to full strength, declaring the risk of losing him from their side, which made a preliminary final last year, is too great.
“We want to respect it and make sure he’s ticking a few of the pain boxes and making sure he can run with freedom,” Russell said.
“There’s no point pushing him at this time of the year, because if we push him and make whatever it is worse, then we might lose him for a chunk of the season and that’s not what we want.
“It’s just about getting him pain free so that he can play pain free and we can see the best version of him and at the moment it’s just a bit inconsistent and we’re not prepared to risk that.”
Meantime, backman Jacob Weitering is making progress, despite already being ruled out of the club’s Opening Round and round one clashes.
“Weitering is coming along. He started running last week. He’s improving quickly, we’ve just got respect the severity of the injury,” Russell said.
“It’s just about how quickly he can progress with that pain tolerance and management of the injury and we’d love to have him back as quickly as possible, but this isn’t the time of year to start pushing things too quickly.”
Carlton kick off their 2024 campaign in a 2023 preliminary final rematch with the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Friday, March 8 as part of the league’s new Opening Round.
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