STAR St Joseph’s recruit Ben Miller has avoided surgery on a knee injury and could be ready as soon as Round 2.
Joeys coach Paul Carson feared the Dimboola product had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament following an incident in Sunday’s practice match win over VAFA club St Kevin’s at Drew Oval.
However, scans have revealed a strain of his ACL and some bone bruising.
“It is a fantastic result for Ben and our footy club,” Carson said. “It’s, realistically, a 4-8 week injury, and he should make a full recovery.
“If everything went well from here, and if I know Ben, he’ll be really diligent in his rehab, and he won’t miss a beat there, so I’d like to think he could be available come Round 2 or 3.”
“Depending on where we’re at at the footy club and the health of our list, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Carson admitted the news was a massive relief.
“Our hearts sank on Sunday for him, and as a footy club, we were like “not again, we’ve had our fair share (of knee injuries)”,” he said.
“The news has really put a smile on everyone’s face, and the support in our WhatsApp group has been through this roof this (Tuesday) afternoon.
“It reflects the sort of guy he is. The guys love him; he’s really bought into our program and our footy club.”
Twitter: @tom_king79
