LARA has been left reeling after co-coach Devon Smith suffered a ruptured Achilles less than a half after returning to the GFNL club.
Smith, who returned to Bisinella Oval after a 182-game AFL career at the end of last season, requires surgery, ending his 2023 season campaign before it began.
The former Essendon and GWS Giants star limped from Anakie Reserve early in the second quarter of Saturday’s hitout with Western Region League club Hoppers Crossing.
“He was virtually stationary, and someone handballed the ball to him, and he’s got tackled from behind, and he’s got rid of it, and then the next thing I saw was him limping off,” co-coach Shayne Stone said.
“I thought me have done his ankle or calf or something.
“But, he said, ‘I think I might have torn my Achilles’. Your heart drops then.
“He’d just kicked a goal; he was looking really good and said he was starting to feel good.”
GFNL: CHOPPER COMMITS TO GIANTS
The Cats will also be sweating on scans of a knee injury suffered by incoming captain Dylan Jose, with fears he may have suffered a third torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Jose was forced from the ground just minutes after Smith’s injury.
“We’ve got our fingers crossed he will be OK,” Stone said. “We’ll have to wait and see.
“He’s done a couple before, so he knows what they feel like. But until we get confirmation, we’re hoping it’s not major.
“Our physio did some tests on him, and structurally it looked OK and felt OK.
“But he’ll get some scans, and we’ll go from there.”
Stone says the injuries have hit the Cats hard.
“It’s flattened the whole group, the club, and the guys it affects,” he said.
“I know Dev was really looking forward to the year and playing with his mates – that’s why he’s come back.
“It was going to be massive for us to have him out there as well.
“The impact he’s had on the group already, and the impact he will have with our young midfield, it will still hold us in very good stead going forward.”
Twitter: @krockfootball
