Kennedy feels for wounded Sandilands

West Coast players rarely feel sympathy for Dockers but Eagles forward Josh Kennedy has put aside bitter derby rivalry to wish Aaron Sandilands a speedy recovery.

Sandilands will spend at least several weeks on the sidelines after suffering a punctured lung and fractured ribs in last week’s 33-point loss to West Coast.

The 211cm ruckman is still in hospital after undergoing surgery on Sunday.

Kennedy punctured his own lung earlier in his career while on Carlton’s list and says he feels for Sandilands.

“All I remember is being in hospital for two or three days, which was the most annoying part,” Kennedy said on Monday.

“It’s a bit like when you crack a rib I suppose. You can’t really breathe too much. You’re just short of breath.

“To be honest it just felt weird. It’s not a very nice thing to happen.

“Once the lung heals back I think it’s all pretty much ready to go.”

West Coast will be aiming to improve their goalkicking accuracy at training this week after booting a wayward 12.20 against the Dockers.

Kennedy was a major culprit, with last year’s Coleman medallist returning 1.4.

But the 28-year-old isn’t overly concerned about that performance and he’ll have the chance to prove he doesn’t have the yips in Friday night’s clash with Richmond at Domain Stadium.

“I just couldn’t do anything right on the night,” Kennedy said.

“I suppose you overcorrect sometimes and you start adjusting for the wind and aim for this and aim for that.

“Hopefully I’ll kick a bit straighter this week.”

West Coast’s performance against Fremantle was a significant step forward following from their flop against Hawthorn in round two.

But Kennedy is confident they can improve even more over the coming weeks.

Kennedy was nursing a black eye on Monday after copping a hit in the derby and revealed it also hurt him in the hip pocket.

“I had three stitches … We get fined for every stitch that happens,” Kennedy said with a laugh.

“I was trying to get the glue put in but the doc said that’s just for kids. So I got stuck with three stitches.”

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