Paddy Ryder is in danger of missing the remainder of the season, says St Kilda coach Brett Ratten.
The veteran ruckman has been battling an achilles injury of late and as a result was a late withdrawal for last weekend’s meeting with Carlton.
The Saints are set to take on Sydney at Marvel Stadium this Saturday night, but will be without Ryder as they strive to keep in touch with the top eight.
“Paddy won’t play. He’s still a bit sore,” Ratten said on SEN’s Whateley.
“We’ll just monitor him to see when he can come back. Whether it’s the following week or if it still maintains where it is now he might not play again this year.
“We’ll just wait and see there.”
Given the nature of the injury to an injury-prone 33-year-old, is it in the mind of the club that they could pull the pin on Ryder’s season?
“Yeah it is. It’s sort of risk versus reward with players that have had injuries,” Ratten added.
“Like Dougal Howard with his hamstring. He won’t play this week and it’s roughly a two-to-three-week hamstring. These decisions will be made as we go along.
“You don’t want ongoing soft tissue injuries or an injury that sets them back for pre-season or hinders them for the following year.
“These decisions will be made over the next few weeks.”
Paul Hunter replaced Ryder in the Saints side for the loss to the Blues, teaming up with Rowan Marshall to dominate the hit-outs against an undermanned duo of Jack Silvagni and Tom De Koning, who was injured early.
The Swans generally operate with one ruckman in Tom Hickey so it will be interesting to see if Ratten sticks with Marshall and Hunter or goes with just the former.
Following this weekend, St Kilda takes on Geelong and Fremantle to wrap up the 2021 home and away season.