Essendon coach Brad Scott has highlighted the loads on junior players following a back stress injury to small forward Isaac Kako.
Kako is out for the medium term, which follows Sullivan Robey arriving at Essendon with a similar injury.
“Back stress fractures not just at our club but across the board are becoming too common for young players coming into the system. You expect it in 200cm fast bowlers but not in 180cm small forwards,” Scott said on Wednesday.
“The loads on young players prior to the draft is something we would be keen to have a look at.”
Geelong's Mitch Edwards and GWS' Cody Angove are other players to miss extensive periods early in their AFL career due to the injury.
A full under-18s season entails approximately 16 games across as many as four programs, with players training twice a week, while many players do extra skills and high performance sessions to give themselves the best chance of being selected. It is also sometimes the first time players are flying to play games of footy which presents a different challenge for young bodies.
Hussein El Achkar looms as a like-for-like replacement for the injured Kako, having kicked 4.3 in the VFL, but Scott stopped short of guaranteeing an AFL debut for the first year player.
After struggling at centre stoppage in the second half against Collingwood, Scott indicated work would be done to give the club the best chance of bouncing back in that area against Brisbane – the number one clearance differential team in the competition.
“It's not going to be easy, we were really disappointed in that area of the game it really put us on the back foot so it will be a prime area of focus this week,” Scott said.
“They're motivated. I have belief in the competitiveness of the group and the things we've looked at this week, we're eager to get out and respond.
“We haven't played Brisbane in Melbourne in my time but they win grand finals in Melbourne so they're a good team anywhere and we see it as an unbelievable opportunity to practice what we're doing against the very best.”
Scott also praised the defensive work of Saad El Hawli on Anzac Day, having shut down Jamie Elliott.
Naturally a winger who gets involved in transition play El-Hawli kept Elliott to two goals and minimal impact, competing well and matching the dynamic small forward's work rate.
“I think these opportunities we're able to give players tells a lot. It's good for individual players' development but also we potentially will find things we didn't know.
“That hasn't been Saad's position at any stage of his footy career; in a practice game against Richmond, we threw him back and played him on the last line of defence and he looked right at home so we had at least a little look at what he could do on the last line and I thought he performed really well on a great player in Elliott.”
