Carlton Blues assistant coach Jordan Russell has provided an update on four of the club's injured players as they head into Round 1 in the coming weeks.
After battling back troubles for over 12 months after undergoing major surgery, the 23-year-old Sam Walsh didn't take part in the Blues practice match against the Geelong Cats on Thursday and will not play in their second and final practice match next week.
However, assistant coach Jordan Russell indicated that the club will take it slow so the former All-Australian can return to his 2021 best this season as they aim to go one step further and qualify for the Grand Final.
“It's a grumbly one. They're still trying to figure out exactly what's going on,” Russell told SEN WA Breakfast.
“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.
“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 and 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.”
Alongside Walsh, three other Blues remain on the sidelines. One of them is Jacob Weitering, who has already been ruled out of their opening clash against the Brisbane Lions.
However, Russell is confident that he will be ready to go in Round 3 and will recover from a calf injury after Carlton's Round 2 bye.
“Weitering is coming along. He started running last week. He's improving quickly, we've just got respect the severity of the injury,” he said.
“I think it was reported earlier in the week Round 3 or something like that.
"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.”
Whilst fans will have to wait patiently for Sam Walsh and Jacob Weitering, midfielder Jack Martin will be available and ready to go next week after dealing with an MCL sprain.
“Jack Martin, he should be available for some sort of match play in the next week or two, which is exciting,” he said.
“He had a really strong pre-Christmas period and just post-Christmas has had a couple of these little niggles.
“He's one we want to get back as quickly as possible with how important he is to the shape of our forward line.”
The same can be said for Zac Williams who was held out of the club's practice match against Geelong as he rebuilds from tearing his ACL last summer. Williams will be back in the next couple of weeks.
“He's right about there. He'll play in the next couple of weeks and generate some of that match fitness,” Russell said.
“He's pretty much like a new recruit for us.”
