Chief operating officer Travis Auld, senior coach Matthew Knights, high performance manager John Quinn, fitness coach Joel Hocking and the club’s medical staff met to discuss the issue following last weekend’s match against the Western Bulldogs.
The Club has had seven significant hamstring strains or tears this season with some other players experiencing hamstring tightness that temporarily disrupted their training programs. The report was tabled at tonight’s board meeting as part of the normal football report presented to the Club board.
The recent hamstring injuries basically fall into two categories. Some – such as those suffered by Andrew Welsh and Scott Gumbleton - are the result of biomechanical issues. Core strength, posture and flexibility are among the things fitness staff have been working on with these players. They will continue to focus on these areas in a bid to rectify the issue long term.
Others – such as those injuries suffered by Mark McVeigh and Sam Lonergan in last week’s game against the Western Bulldogs – appear to be fatigue related.
Among the issues identified as potential factors were the three six-day breaks at the commencement of the season and the increased intensity of games across the competition and the time it is taking for young players to adapt to this. The increased match-day load for Essendon’s younger players is also considered a possible contributing factor.
“A whole range of things were identified – we wanted to look at every possibility. Unfortunately injury prevention is not an exact science and we are constantly learning how to manage things more effectively,” Auld said.
“We will make some changes to a number of areas but it will be difficult to establish if they are making a difference immediately – whether we have made changes for the better is something that we will only be able to judge over time.
“There is some suggestion the firm surface at Windy Hill is a contributing factor. It is true the surface is harder than the Dome or the MCG. Cricket being played on the oval and the water restrictions make it difficult for the ground to be prepared exactly as we would like. Having said that, we don’t believe there is a direct link between the surface and these injuries.”
Andrew Welsh will return from his injury this weekend and Scott Gumbleton could resume for Bendigo next weekend. Courtenay Dempsey (one week), Leroy Jetta (two weeks), Mark McVeigh (four weeks) and Sam Lonergan (three weeks) are all working through their rehabilitation programs.
