Fears Melbourne co-captain Jack Grimes suffered a serious shoulder injury have been allayed, with the youngster set to spend just a fortnight on the AFL sidelines.
The 22-year-old hurt his shoulder in a collision during regular drills at training on Wednesday and left the ground with his arm in a sling.
The defender was sent for precautionary scans, which first-year coach Mark Neeld said on Wednesday night removed any concern that Grimes might need a reconstruction.
“The results are in and it’s minor,” Neeld told Melbourne’s 3AW.
“He’ll miss two weeks – he’ll play (pre-season round) four.
“It’s great news. I’m happy with that.
“I’m not happy with Jack missing two games, but it’s better than missing more than two.”
Confirmation that the injury was minor was a relief, given Grimes’ early-career history.
Back problems hampered him in 2008 and 2009, he missed the last half of the 2010 season and 2011 was mostly destroyed by a foot injury.
Since his 2008 debut, Grimes has played just 32 AFL games.
That did not stop the Demons recently naming him captain along with Jack Trengove.
Neeld also confirmed on Wednesday that livewire forward Liam Jurrah would probably miss the opening round of the AFL season after wrist surgery.
“He’s going to have to come back through the VFL so that is where he is at,” Neeld said.
“We know he has had complications with his wrist. It lasted four weeks in a cast and didn’t heal. He had to have an operation and he can’t join in full training.”
While the issue has become a little drawn out, Neeld said there was no long-term concern about Jurrah.
“Unfortunately, we had to go back and have a second go at it. It’s not a concern but no one wants their players to be injured and we’ve got a couple, but again, that’s footy,” he said.
Trengove is also on the injured list after experiencing soreness in his leg following training last week.
“He’s coming along well but he won’t play this week,” Neeld said.
Trengove is aiming to return for the third round of the pre-season competition against Hawthorn.
