Giants star Lachie Whitfield is racing the clock to be fit for for Round 1 due to a nasty bruised liver.
Channel 7's Tom Browne reported on Tuesday night that Whitfield has only just been discharged from hospital this week after a nine-day stint.
Browne projects the gun runner to be sidelined for up to three months.
"Lachie Whitfield was only discharged from hospital yesterday, where he’s spent 9 days with his bruised liver. It depends how it heals, but understand it’s 8-12 weeks. The giants say it’s a week to week proposition. Very optimistic," Browne tweeted.
Lachie Whitfield was only discharged from hospital yesterday, where he’s spent 9 days with his bruised liver. It depends how it heals, but understand it’s 8-12 weeks. The giants say it’s a week to week proposition. Very optimistic
— Tom Browne (@TomBrowne7) February 16, 2021
The Giants released a statement only a few weeks ago saying that Whitfield's complaint was only minor, however the injury seems to be more serious than first thought.
Giants chief medical officer Bassam Moses said that they had hoped Whitfield wouldn't be required to go to hospital but plans changed quickly.
“It’s on the lower end of the scale and he’s feeling ok at the moment,” Moses said.
“He hasn’t required hospitalisation but it’s hard to put a timeframe on his recovery at this stage.
“He’ll continue to be monitored closely as the bruising subsides and will be a week-by-week proposition.”
Giants coach Leon Cameron addressed Whitfield's injury on SEN radio this morning and outlined his pre-season modifications.
Cameron described it as a "really unusual" injury, confirming that he would not appear in any pre-season games and was touch and go for Round 1.
“It was really unusual,” Cameron told SEN Breakfast.
“Lachie’s so brave. Playing a bit of match play and just backed into a pack and was a bit sore around the ribs. We scanned him the next day … and we found that he had a bruised liver, which was the first time I’ve ever heard of it.”
“The big thing with Lachie is that he’s taken six or seven days to initially get over the hit and he’s probably not going to play for the next four or five weeks. I can’t say whether he’s going to be ready for Round 1 yet because the doctors and specialists need to see him week by week and see how that bruise on his liver is actually mending.
“He’s in a really good spot the last three or four days, but he could take some really good steps forward in the next couple of weeks but he also could take a couple of steps back. It’s a little unknown.
“He won’t be playing in any of the pre-season games, but Lachie’s fitness base does allow him to step back into our program pretty quickly.”
The Giants open their season on March 21 against the Saints.
