The Hawks have suffered a massive injury blow with a Jarryd Roughead ruled out for the first half of 2016.
Hawthorn released a statement a short time ago announcing that Roughead has injured his PCL and will undergo surgery in the coming weeks.
Read the full statement below:
Hawthorn vice-captain Jarryd Roughead is expected to miss the first half of the 2016 season due to a PCL reconstruction.
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The four-time premiership player had been able to manage the injury previously, but experts have now advised the Hawks that surgery would be the best option.
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GM โ Football Operations Chris Fagan said it was disappointing news for Roughead.
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โWe found out this morning that Jarryd requires a PCL reconstruction, which means that heโs not going to be available to play until somewhere in the middle of the season,โ Fagan said.
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โThatโs a fair stint out โ somewhere between four to five months.
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โHeโs actually had a PCL injury for a long time, but in the past if itโs got a little bit sore he just has a day off and it clears up and he continues to train and play.
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โHe didnโt miss any games with it last year, he had a perfect pre-season up until Christmas time, and for some unknown reason the kneeโs got sore just lately, and not recovering when weโve given him a rest.
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โWe needed to seek expert advice, and thatโs the opinion we received this morning.โ
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The 29-year-old is expected to undergo surgery in the next couple of weeks, with Fagan confident the key forward can bounce back and have a big impact in the second half of the season.
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โRoughโs had a few challenges in the last little while - this is just another one,โ he said.
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โHeโll take that in his stride, and as he said to me the other day, heโll be really fresh in the second half of the year and canโt wait for that to come around.โ
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While Rougheadโs absence will undoubtedly be a blow for the Hawks, it could present an exciting opportunity for a number of young forwards.
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Fagan said the door was open for some young Hawks to impress.
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โIt does give some opportunities for some of our younger forwards like James Sicily and Tim OโBrien to step up, so weโre really looking forward to seeing how those guys go, knowing that weโve got Rough coming back on-board mid-season,โ he said.
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