Carlton head of football Brad Lloyd has offered an injury update on a key Blues trio as Opening Round nears.
The Blues played in a Community Series practice match on Wednesday against Melbourne at Ikon Park and were without a handful of key players who were sidelined with injuries.
Three of those that missed were Zac Williams, Sam Walsh and Jack Martin.
While Williams suited up in the VFL game earlier in the day as he works back from an ACL injury, both Walsh and Martin failed to feature at all as their bodies held them back.
Lloyd detailed what each of those three players is dealing with and what kind of timeframe is set, if at all, for their return to play.
Zac Williams (knee)
“He played today (Tuesday) in the VFL game and got through pretty well,” Lloyd said on SEN Sportsday.
“I just spoke to our medical team, and he looked really good and really excited.
“So, he looks really fit and healthy and I think it'll be a welcome addition.
“We'll work through that with the match committee next week on what his availability looks like.
“He ticked the box of getting through today. The next step would be whether he ends up available for Opening Round.
“We'll work through that next week. We probably see him exploding off half-back with the ability to go into the middle. and I don't mind him pinch-hitting forward occasionally as well.”
Sam Walsh (back)
“Well, he’s obviously had the injury that we've had to keep an eye on,” Lloyd said.
“He's just had some real soreness and stiffness. Sometimes with his training and the loads of pre-season … he was really good in the practice match the week before, but I guess he was tipping over the edge a little bit in terms of load.
“We've just listened to the symptoms of that stiffness and soreness and had to modify his program and back him off a bit.
“He's been running, we'll see how he is next week because he'll have to really tick a few boxes to get ready to play again.
“They (the boxes) are running, kicking and those sorts of things as we build up.
“We'll give an update on him next week as he kicks off on what he needs to do and whether we can declare him available.”
Jack Martin (knee)
“He had an MCL sprain,” Lloyd said.
“So, he'll be a couple of weeks away Jack.
“He was looking pretty good. But he had a slip at training and that’s the sprain.
“He'll be a couple of weeks off from here.”
Carlton’s Opening Round clash against Brisbane comes on next Friday, March 8 against Brisbane at the Gabba.
