Partway through its most challenging section of the season, Inverleigh is having its depth tested like few others.
The past fortnight, in which the Hawks have been unable to go the distance with reigning premier North Geelong and the unbeaten Werribee Centrals, has resulted in serious injuries for the talented Dan Maher, experienced ruckman Luke Wilson, and reliable captain Jack Fiolet.
Maher suffered a broken leg in the loss to the Centurions and is facing the prospect of surgery and missing the remainder of the season.
“He’ll see a specialist later this week to find out whether he needs surgery, but it looks like he’ll be out for the remainder of the year,” coach Chris Moore said.
“It was pretty innocuous… we didn’t know what it was, we just knew it was hurt, and he didn’t actually find out until he had scans on the Sunday.
“He’s been very valuable to us since crossing over last year.
“We’ve put him into the leadership group. He’s a vocal leader, and he’s been playing probably the best footy of his career.
“It’s a bit of a blow.”
Wilson underwent surgery earlier this week after suffering a ruptured urethra against the Magpies after receiving an accidental kick to the groin during a ruck contest.
Despite the serious nature of the injury, Moore says Wilson is a chance to return in the final stages of the home-and-away season.
“It was a case of wrong place, wrong time,” Moore said.
“Luke didn’t think it was that bad first up. It was later that we realised that things weren’t great, so he was off to hospital.”
Moore is hopeful Fiolet could play in the crucial clash with the Belmont Lions following the interleague break.
“It was just a low-grade strain,” Moore said.
“We were 50-50 whether we put him back on the ground on Saturday.
“But with our injury list the way it is, we thought we’d err on the side of caution; we didn’t want it to become a four-week injury.”
Moore also confirmed the Hawks will be without Jayden Reid and Michael Bourdouvalis for the remainder of the season.
Reid has moved interstate, while Bourdouvalis, who arrived at Morton Power Oval this year from Winchelsea, has been accepted into the Army.
In better news, vice-captain Jarrod Love, Jarrod Bacon and Scott Condy are expected to return against the Lions, and Dalton Grundell got through his first senior appearance of the season unscathed.
Casey Meehan is eyeing an appearance in the reserves following the break, having nearly fully recovered from a knee injury that sidelined him for the first half of the season.
The meeting with Lions will be followed by battles with Bell Post Hill and East Geelong, which are likely to determine whether the Hawks return to finals for the first time since winning the 2023 premiership.
“Where we are right now, every game’s going to be a big game,” Moore said.
X: @krockfootball
