Defender Michael Hartley will spend a short time on the sideline as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
Hartley suffered the injury during the third quarter of last Saturday’s game against the Tigers.
The news isn’t all bad, however, with High Performance Manager Justin Crow revealing that the tear is at the lower end of the scale – meaning that Hartley will not be missing for too long.
“It’s a lower end, minor hamstring, so he’ll miss 2-3 weeks,” said Crow
“If it is three weeks, because of the bye round, that’ll make it four, but he’ll be pushing really hard to play against Greater Western Sydney.”
Joining the team in the 2015 draft, the ex-Pie had been a somewhat of a revelation this season – able to match it with a number of the best forwards in the league.
Hartley’s injury comes at a bad time for the Bombers, who are currently lacking depth for a key position backman.
Sam Michael has been flagged as a potential replacement for Hartley by Coach John Worsfold.
“There’s a young player, Sam Michael, in the VFL who rucked today, and we’ve been planning on him learning his craft as a ruckman and playing forward a bit,” said Worsfold
“He can go back and hold up, so that’s one we can look at.”
Michael joined the Bombers in January and has been consistent for Essendon VFL, playing in a number of positions throughout the season.
If selected, it will be Michael’s first game for the Bombers and his first since he last played with the Lions in 2013.
The news was better for two other Bombers, with Mathew Stokes and Matthew Leuenberger expected to be available for selection this week.
Stokes has not played since injuring his hamstring against Carlton in Round 6, while Leuenberger was a late withdrawal from last week’s game after he failed to pull-up from a minor achilles injury sustained in the game against St.Kilda
“Leuenberger got a kick to the Achilles the week before last and, given his history, we were being careful,” said Crow
“He didn’t quite get up for the game, but he’ll be fine for this week.”
