North, Pies sweat on injury news in AFL

North Melbourne has received some good news on the injury front as AFL clubs count the cost of a bruising opening round, but Collingwood await further information on Dane Swan’s career-threatening leg injury.

The Kangaroos looked set to be without Lindsay Thomas (shoulder) and Jed Anderson (hamstring) for an extended period after Saturday night’s 10-point win over Adelaide, but coach Brad Scott revealed on Sunday the news wasn’t as bad as first feared.

“Lindsay just had a bit of a shoulder stinger, which is not unusual,” Scott told 3AW on Sunday.

“He went back on and played out the game and he’s fine.

“He won’t even be scanned. He’s fine – he’s cleared for next week.

“Jed’s a little bit of a different story … he definitely felt some tightness in the upper hamstring.

“I think he’d be unlikely for next week. We think at this stage that it’s minor but we’ll wait to confirm that.”

Swan suffered fibula and foot fractures as well as ligament damage in the Magpies’ shock 80-point loss to Sydney at the SCG.

The 32-year-old will undergo scans on Monday to determine the severity of the injury.

“If I need surgery I’ll come back and hopefully I get back,” Swan said at Melbourne airport on Sunday.

“Whether that’s six weeks or whether that’s 20 weeks or somewhere in between, I hope that’s not my last game.”

Port Adelaide speedster Matt White also faces a nervous wait on scans to determine the extent of damage to a pectoral muscle after an incident during Port’s big win over St Kilda.

“It could be anywhere from four weeks to three months probably, dependent on how bad a rupture or just a slight tear,” Power coach Ken Hinkley said.

Richmond star Shane Edwards suffered a fracture to the fourth metacarpal in his right hand late in the Tigers’ win over Carlton, and will miss next week’s clash against Collingwood after undergoing surgery.

In other injury news, Daniel Merrett was withdrawn from the Brisbane Lions side to face West Coast with illness, and Melbourne’s Oscar McDonald rolled his left ankle and was on crutches after the Demons’ win over GWS.

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