Hayden Skipworth has undergone MRI scans today after suffering a minor strain in the third quarter of Sunday’s match against North Melbourne.

Football operations manager Paul Hamilton said the injury is likely to sideline the 26-year-old for a minimum of two weeks.

“We are still waiting on the results of the reports but our medical staff are telling us it is a minimum grade one strain which will keep him out for two to three weeks,” Hamilton said.
“It could possibly be more but it just depends on how quickly he recovers. Obviously it has been less than 24 hours since the injury occurred so sometimes you need a couple more days in order to get the full view of what the outcome will be.""

The injury to Skipworth, who has been lauded for his outstanding leadership qualities, is a significant loss for the Bombers, both on-field and around the club.

 “The thing about Hayden is that he has been a terrific team player and sometimes it is difficult for other people to see that,” Hamilton said.

“He provides terrific leadership around the club to our other players so he will definitely be missed.

“He has played some good footy for us over the past couple of weeks and has outstanding values that are recognised by the players and the coaching group.”

Skipworth has had a remarkable return to senior football after being delisted by Adelaide two years ago.

After playing for Essendon’s VFL affiliate, the Bendigo Bombers, Matthew Knights threw Skipworth a lifeline last year, offering him the opportunity to resurrect his career at senior level with Essendon.

Despite the latest injury, Hamilton said Skipworth remains in positive spirits.

 “He is fine with it. I spoke to him after the game on Sunday and he was naturally very disappointed because he has fought incredibly hard to get to the stage where he has played a few games,” Hamilton said.

“With ANZAC Day next week, he will be disappointed from that point of view but he understands that is football too so he will work as hard as he can to recover as quickly as he can.”