Injuries could hurt Melbourne “quite severely” – Wallace

Terry Wallace feels the players Melbourne have lost recently could seriously hurt the Demons as the run to the finals heats up.

The Dees lost rebounding defender Michael Hibberd to a quad issue at training yesterday which further compounds the season-ending knee injury of Jake Lever and co-captain Jack Viney, who will miss up to a month with a toe problem.

While they may not have the largest of injury tolls, Melbourne may be stung by the absence of such key players according to AFL Hall of Famer Wallace.

“On the back of losing Lever earlier in the year. Now you’ve got two of their key guns (out),” he said on SEN’s The Match Committee.

“I think they’re (Hibberd and Lever) the two most flexible of the players down that end that can play tall or small, (they’re) intercept players.

“It really does hurt them quite severely. It looked a nasty injury from a training point of view.

“With Viney out as well, it’s just starting to mount up for the Demons.”

The injured players are so important to Melbourne that it may seriously impact their chances of victory against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night.

“It does put some real doubt into it,” added Wallace.

“We know Geelong don’t lose down there very often but with those three blokes out, it has you questioning which way you go with your selection.”

Melbourne’s defence takes a hit with the Hibberd injury and Wallace admits there is a slight concern with Simon Goodwin’s back six at the moment.

He continued: “That side should be strong enough to give it a real shake (against the Cats).

“The one area is just that defensive unit that we’ve had some uncertainty about that they can be scored against quickly.”

The Demons have replaced the injured Hibberd and Mitch Hannan (jarred knee) by bringing in midfielder Dom Tyson and defender Joel Smith who has recovered from a hip issue.

Melbourne currently sit sixth on the AFL ladder with a tough run to come including matches against the Cats, Adelaide (in Adelaide), Gold Coast, Sydney, West Coast (in Perth) and GWS.

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