UPDATE
St Kilda head of football David Rath has provided an update on both Hunter Clark and Dougal Howard.
Rath confirmed earlier reports that Clark underwent surgery early on Saturday morning.
“This is really disappointing for Hunter,” Rath said in a Saints statement.
“He’s had a very unlucky run with injuries over the past 18 months.
“However, the good thing about Hunter is that he brings such a great attitude to his rehabilitation, something I have no doubt we’ll see again this time around.”
Rath also offered a comment on the knee injury to Dougal Howard.
“Dougal will consult a specialist following a knee scan earlier today and undergo an arthroscopy on Tuesday to assess a medial meniscal tear,” Rath said.
“At this stage we’re uncertain as to the exact management for this injury, so we’re unable to provide clarity on how long Dougal will miss, however we’ll look to share a further update when that information comes to hand.”
EARLIER Hunter Clark has already been in for surgery and will miss “a couple of weeks at least”, according to Saints skipper Jack Steele.
Clark came off second best in an ugly incident with teammate Dan Butler, after two were involved in a head-on collision while attempting a tackle with just minutes to play in the final term on Friday night against Carlton.
The 23-year-old suffered a compound fracture of the nose, and speaking barely 12 hours after the Saints' win over Carlton, Steele provided an update on his “sore” teammate.
“I’d say he’s fairly sore. I think he’s already been in for surgery to get that fixed up, so definitely feeling for him because he’s had a few incidents like this,” the Saints captain told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“He had his broken jaw last year, he had his AC joint at the start of the season, so he would be a bit sore this morning.
“I’m not too sure what it looks like, I think it’ll be a couple of weeks at least.”
Clark broke his jaw last season from a bump by now-retired Crow David Mackay and has missed significant time in 2022 after an AC injury in Round 1 this year.
The former top-10 pick was playing just his third game back in 2022.
Saints coach Brett Ratten also commented on the incident after the game.
“Hunter's got a broken nose, sort of a compound fracture come through, it's pretty ugly,” Ratten said.
“He's had a bad run. He's put his head in some wrong spots and been cleaned up and it doesn't usually happen in the game.
“He's brave, tough, he's done everything and he's probably a player who was down a little bit (against Carlton) but found a way.
“He'll have to get some X-rays and see what's next for him and if there's a remodel of the nose, because it's not in great shape.”
Fellow Saint Dougal Howard also suffered a knee injury during the contest, with the extent of the setback to b.
Clark finished with 17 disposals and four tackles as the Saints upset the Blues by 15 points at Marvel Stadium.