I do not wish injuries upon anyone. I cannot stress that enough. Especially when it comes to head knocks.
But the 'purple' lining of Fremantle gun Hayden Young's concussion, pending he gets through OK, is that he'll miss the next two clashes, physically priming him for a mouth-watering contest against Brisbane in Round 12.
Yes, he may be held back from physical activity until the concussion symptoms subside, but a break on his body might be advantageous in the long run.
"Unfortunately, Hayden has entered protocols with delayed concussion from an incident at training on Tuesday morning," said Executive General Manager of Football Joe Brierty.
"He developed symptoms on Tuesday afternoon that persisted until he returned to the Club today. This now means he will miss our next two fixtures against Essendon and Euro-Yroke (St Kilda)."
So, he'll miss the four-hour flight cross-country to the MCG to play Essendon on Sunday, something, in my opinion, should have already been considered as a game to miss given his injury history.
Fremantle return home the following week, on a five-day break, to host St Kilda at Optus Stadium. A match that should be won if Justin Longmuir is serious about his premiership chances.
But waiting is a potential preliminary final matchup against the reigning premiers at The Gabba. A minimum five-hour flight from one corner of Australia to the other.
This match Young shouldn't miss.
The 25-year-old's hate-hate relationship with soft-tissue injuries has plagued his past 18 months, limiting him to 14 outings since the beginning of last year.
He's been a big absence.
But this latest injury setback, which is not soft-tissue related, might have come at an opportune time.
Modern-day football requires more management than ever before given the high demand and duration of a season.
Take Geelong and Patrick Dangerfield for example. Admittedly, Young and Dangerfield are very different cases, but the concept around managing a star due to soft-tissue problems is pertinent.
In 2024, the Cats held back the Brownlow medallist, having a spell between Round 7 and 15, albeit dealing with injury woes.
It gave Dangerfield the opportunity to get a mini pre-season under his belt in the lead-up to the finals campaign.
The last six weeks of 2024, he averaged over 20 disposals per game, and was immense in the two finals against Port Adelaide and Brisbane, despite the loss to the latter.
Dangerfield was at his explosiveness best. Geelong did the same in the premiership-winning season of 2022, with Chris Scott holding him back during the colder, wetter months to prime him for the back-end of the campaign. He won the 2022 Gary Ayres Award (best finals player).
Could the Dockers take a leaf out of Geelong's book?
Young's anticipated return against Brisbane will be followed by an 'away' clash against North Melbourne in Western Australia before the club's mid-season bye.
Fremantle will then enter a difficult month, hosting Geelong, Gold Coast and Sydney, with a trip to Canberra to face GWS wedged in between.
Young's availability, and AFL readiness, will help determine just how deep the Dockers will go in 2026.
