A knee injury suffered by Queenscliff forward Jayden McHenry has been confirmed as a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
McHenry, who suffered a similar injury playing with Ocean Grove in 2023, landed awkwardly after taking a mark during the third quarter of the Coutas’ second semi-final loss to Torquay at Portarlington Recreation Reserve.
Coach Heath Jamieson says the club is “devastated” for McHenry, who is the second Couta after Marshall Rippon to suffer the dreaded injury this season.
J-Mac’s been a great addition to our club,” Jamieson said.
“He came last year and has fitted in well with all the boys and has just loved playing footy again.
“He retired early, and it took a bit to talk him into coming back to play, but he said to me that it’s been his favourite two years of footy.
“He’s been a likeable guy around the group, and we’ll miss his on-field leadership.”
Jamieson says they’ll ensure McHenry, who featured in Leopold’s maiden GFNL premiership team in 2016, stays involved.
“He’s got a good attitude towards the next chapter, I think,” Jamieson said.
“He’s pretty busy off the field with his real estate business, so he’ll have plenty of things to keep him occupied.
“We’ll just offer our support where he needs it.”
McHenry’s absence has Jamieson considering his replacement options for Saturday’s preliminary final clash with Geelong Amateur at Grinter Reserve.
Among those in contention to earn promotion from the Coutas’ reserves, who won their way into the grand final last week, are Max Scott, Ned Coffey, Tyler Monahan, Jonty Rush, and Barwon Heads premiership player Charlie Brauer, whose points allocation has worked against him.
Former captain and triple-premiership player Jake Hedley, who hasn’t played a senior match since Round 1, but has kicked 63 goals in the reserves, could be a surprise inclusion.
“We had a lot of guys that have played a fair bit of senior football with us in the reserves last week,” Jamieson said.
“We probably haven’t landed on that player yet.
“We’ve been throwing up a lot of situations, myself and Blake (Limb, assistant coach), but we’ll work through that.
“We’ll have a look at training tonight and see how the boys come through the game.
“Although we trained a bit on Tuesday night, there was still a little bit of soreness about.
“So, we’ll see who’s pulled up the best out of probably our list of five or six that could come in and play a role, and we’ll put our trust in them that they can get the job done for us.”
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