Crows defender Wayne Milera will have surgery this week after rupturing the patella tendon in his right knee in the Round 3 loss to Fremantle.
Milera will miss the remainder of the season while in rehabilitation which is the second time he’s suffered a serious patella injury. The first was to his left knee in 2021.
“Shattering news for Wayne, he’s ruptured that patella tendon and will have surgery and miss the season so everyone is pretty devastated for him,” High Performance Manager Darren Burgess said.
“He landed awkwardly and we weren’t too sure what was wrong, but he knew that it was pretty serious and it’s just an unfortunate incident.
“It’s a gradual build (into rehab), he knows the deal pretty well, it will be a week or two at home and then we’ll start working with him on strengthening everything and getting him ready for next season.”
Small forward Lachlan Murphy will be sidelined for at least three weeks after scans confirmed ligament damage to his left knee in the game against the Dockers.
“Murph has done a bit of an odd lateral ligament injury to his knee,” Burgess said.
“The knee is pretty stable, and he will miss a minimum of three weeks but a maximum of five because we have to wait until he comes out of the (knee) brace and see what sort of function he’s got.”
Key defender Jordon Butts is expected to be available to play Melbourne on Thursday night after missing the trip to Perth with a rolled ankle.
“Buttsy was really close (to playing last week), we did a fitness test on the morning of the flight, he rolled an ankle and just didn’t get up,” Burgess said.
“He trained on Monday and I suspect he will train on Wednesday before the game and be available so that’s good news for us.”
Midfielder Zac Taylor has exited concussion protocol and will be available for selection after missing last weekend.
INJURY LIST:
(As of Tuesday, April 2)
Jordon Butts (ankle) test
Rory Sloane (eye) TBC
Lachlan Murphy (knee) 3-5 weeks
Harry Schoenberg (achilles) 3-5 weeks
Nick Murray (knee) 7-9 weeks
Riley Thilthorpe (knee) 3-4 months
Wayne Milera (knee) season
