AFL Headlines In Brief
-Kreuzer out 3-4 months
-Deledio injures ankle
-Dustin Martin in more trouble
-Dons ban Dempsey
Matthew Kreuzer will miss a significant chunk of the AFL season after succumbing to a foot injury.
Carlton kept the Kreuzer injury news under wraps until naming its round three team on Thursday with the big ruckman now expected to miss 12-14 weeks with a foot injury.
The surprise announcement will see Kreuzer head in for surgery for a troublesome foot issue, ensuring he will likely not return until the end of the 2014 AFL home and away season.
In desperate need of some tall bodies, the outcome does not bode well for the winless Blues.
“After chatting to the club doctor I know that this is the best way to get my foot right, so hopefully I can come back fitter and stronger and play a big role for the team at the business end of the season,” a diplomatic Kreuzer said.
“Kreuzer is an integral part of our team and will be missed on the field, but we’re confident this is the best course of action going forward,” football operations manager Andrew McKay added.
The 24-year-old has played just once this season- a 14-disposal effort in a loss to Port in round 1.
Richmond will be without some key faces for Saturday’s clash with the Western Bulldogs.
Vice-captain Brett Deledio failed to recover from an ankle injury while Carlton recruit Shaun Hampson has a knee injury.
Remarkably, Deledio is set to miss his first game in seven years stretching back to round 18 of 2007. The veteran held the current-day record for most consecutive games (140).
Coming into the team will be Daniel Jackson, ruck Orren Stephenson and debutant Nathan Gordon.
In other Richmond news, Dustin Martin has found himself in more trouble, this time for caught driving with an unregistered vehicle.
The 22-year-old will not be punished for the latest in a long-running list of off-field slip-ups.
Essendon have come down hard on Courtenay Dempsey, suspending the defender “until further notice” for failing to meet club standards.
Bombers coach Mark Thompson refused to go into details about the matter.
“Courtenay is a talented player and an important member of our team. We’ll give him the necessary support required to regain the consistent standards we expect of him as a player at this football club,” he said in a statement.
“We felt that Courtenay needed to understand that we can’t accept individuals stepping outside of team protocols and requirements.
“We sat down with Courtenay and discussed the reasons why his training standards had dropped, and as a result we agreed the best way forward for him was to go back and train with the VFL side.”
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