Carlton young gun Tom De Koning is expected to miss the start of the 2021 season due to a low-level stress reaction in his back.
The Blues confirmed the setback for the emerging ruckman in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
Blues Head of Football Brad Lloyd said the club would give De Koning time to recover, admitting he was unlikely to feature in the early rounds of the season.
โGiven the nature of this type of injury, we suspect Tom will miss the first few games of the season to allow his body to rest and recover accordingly. We expect at that point that Tom will then be available for selection,โ Lloyd told carltonfc.com.au.
The 21-year old has played nine AFL games for the Blues, including seven last year, and emerged as their ruckman of the future.
De Koning was drafted to Carlton with Pick 30 in the 2017 AFL draft and made his debut in 2018.
TDK is expected to be unavailable for the early rounds of the 2021 season due to a low-level stress reaction in his back.
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) February 4, 2021
