Matthew Knights has delivered an early Christmas present to Essendon fans, announcing gun young tall Michael Hurley will be fit to resume full pre-season training when the team returns on the 4th of January.
""We spoke the other day in a medical meeting and he will be out of a cast when we resume training in January so that is a real positive for Michael,” Knights told Bomber.tv.
“He has been able to compete in everything, the running, conditioning and ball skills but only using one hand. I think he quite enjoyed at times showing what he is like marking and kicking with one hand, he probably can do it better than most.
“He is looking forward to his training and just wants to get out there as soon as possible, I think he would love to play (NAB Cup) on February 12 in Western Australia but he might be a couple of weeks later than that.”
In other positive news for the club, Essendon’s already sparse injury list continues to thin out with Jay Neagle and Henry Slattery now participating in full training.
Tyson Slattery (fibula) and David Hille (knee) remain on the club’s injury list but both are progressing well.
The unexpected delay is due to a number of factors including strikes at Australia Post and an upgrade of the Essendon’s IT systems (which will ultimately improve the accuracy of club information).