A “concerned” Collingwood will lose Jesse White until at least next month after the forward sustained an ankle injury at training on Monday.
After reportedly blitzing pre-season training ahead of a second season with the Magpies, White will need some time off to recover from the current setback.
“Jesse White has been training fabulously, but unfortunately he rolled his ankle at training today,” football director Neil Balme told the Collingwood TV.
“He’s having scans at some point during the day (Monday). We don’t know the results as yet. It’s a little bit of a concern, but once we know more we’ll be able to tell you more.”
A successful off-season has seen White drop eight kilograms while besting his 2km time trial by a whopping 27 seconds.
White is looking to have a greater impact in 2015 after a lacklustre debut season with the Pies, playing in at least 18 games for the first time since 2010 but posting lower per game stats than during his final season with Sydney despite an increased role.
Balme also discussed the recovery of versatile big man Ben Reid, who last week visited German wonder doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt in Munich.
“Ben is on his way back (from Germany) now. All the reports are that we’re expecting a pretty good outcome from this,” Balme said.
“We always thought it was pretty minor injury in itself, it (the idea of sending Reid to Germany) is just around the other soft tissue injuries to see if there’s any systemic problem.
“The reports so far show that he should be able to respond pretty well to this and he should be able to be flying when he gets back.”
Dane Swan is nearing a recovery following hip surgery, however the 2011 Brownlow medallist still “has a reasonable amount of work do to”.
“Dane’s training very well. He’s had a fair bit of surgery post-season, so what we’re doing is working him into a position of fitness where he can play,” Balme said.
“He’s not in the regular program with the footies, but he’s working really hard. We’re really pleased with where he is at the minute.”
Photo: Robert Prezioso/Getty Images.
