Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti’s manager, Scott Lucas, has explained why his client missed the end of Essendon’s 2021 campaign.
McDonald-Tipungwuti didn’t play in the Bombers’ final three games – including their Elimination Final loss to the Western Bulldogs – due to personal reasons, according to coach Ben Rutten.
“It's about Anthony's wellbeing as a person, that comes first and foremost,” Rutten said in August.
“We are giving him the full support, as we would any of our players. I am not sure when we will see him back, but we all know and love what Anthony can do on a football field for us, so we just want to make sure he is in the best possible condition to be able to do that.
“There's a few things behind the scenes that need to happen to have him being at his best.
“We are just helping him manage that the best he can, giving him all the support we can. It's just one of those things that happens for everybody from time to time.”
Speaking on SEN’s Bob and Andy, Lucas revealed the small forward was carrying an unspecified injury that forced him to miss the end of Essendon’s season.
“He was challenged in that space with his body which was making it harder for him to perform at the level he would like to, and the team would like him to,” the Bombers great said.
“It just made it difficult and in the end the club made the decision to try and work through that and hope that if the finals go longer then he was a really good chance to come back.
“He just needed to get his body right, so it became a race against time really.”
McDonald-Tipungwuti, 28, finished second in Essendon’s goalkicking with 34 majors in 20 appearances.