Anglesea playing coach Jordan Keras is likely to miss the remainder of the Bellarine home-and-away season after scans on a hamstring injury suffered in the pre-byes win over Newcomb came back worse than expected.
It’s a blow for the fifth-placed Roos, which sits a game clear of the Power and Portarlington, heading into the final third of the season.
Keras leads the competition in disposals and contested possessions and is expected to poll well again in the Les Ash Medal, in which he finished runner-up in 2024, third in 2023, and fifth in 2022.
“I knew I heard a snap,” Keras said. “Straight after, I was a little bit achy, but nothing ridiculous.
“I messaged the boss of Radius Imaging and said, ‘Let’s have a bit of a look at this’.
“And I said to him, ‘I feel pretty good, (but) can you tell me how my tendon looks?
“He came back and said it snapped off nearly two centimetres, so I was quite surprised by the result.”
Keras, who works as a physiotherapist, says the return timeline is usually 8-12 weeks.
But he is adamant he will play finals if the reigning premier finishes inside the top five.
“My best hope is probably six weeks,” he said.
“Normal timeframes are anywhere between 8 and 12, so I’ll have to do my rehab the right way.
“I’ll do everything I can to get back as soon as possible.
“We’ll see how the season pans out from Anglesea’s perspective and make some decisions closer to when I need to make them. “
After consecutive weeks with the club’s bye following the league-wide bye at the start of the month, Anglesea faces the much-improved Portarlington, which is riding a rare three-match winning streak.
Keras expects Dale Kerr and Jack Baker to be right to take on the Demons after both suffered injuries against Newcomb.
However, Joel Hogan is no certainty, while premiership co-captain James Carr is unavailable.
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