Injured Howe weighs into pre-season injury carnage debate

Jeremy Howe has weighed into claims the AFL’s off-season schedule is contributing to the rising number of injuries and risks cutting careers short.

A spate of setbacks ranging from a couple of weeks on the sidelines to season-ending have made headlines in recent weeks with Howe himself nursing a calf issue.

On Thursday Hawthorn’s Will Day became the latest casualty of this pre-season carnage, leaving training with a dislocated shoulder that could rule him out for up to three months.

He joins Max Gawn, Dan McStay, Aidan Corr, Darcy Moore, Bailey Laurie, Clayton Oliver, Cillian Bourke and Toby Greene on the list of players that face delayed starts to their 2026 seasons while Jackson Archer and Jesse Motlop have both been ruled out with ACLs.

SEN’s Kane Cornes warned this week that unless changes are made to the amount of time players are spending away from their clubs, careers are under threat because of the lack of preparation time to re-condition.

"Players are having so much time off, they have de-conditioned,” he said. “Couple that with the fact they don’t have time to reintegrate with running skills to get up to speed, they are just straight back in and we’re seeing it. It’s brutal.

“Whilst the players association think they are doing the right thing by giving players so much time off, they’re harming the product and harming the players and their careers.”

So is the post season break too long? Do clubs need to do more over the Christmas break or is this the new norm for players?

Howe, who alongside Darcy Moore is expected to be fit in time for the Pies season opener against St Kilda on March 8, believes clubs have to put the onus of trust on players during their time away but warned individuals not doing the work while on break “will never catch up” as the game becomes more and more demanding.

“The game is not getting any easier,” he told SEN. “Everyone is always looking for an extra 5-10 per cent. Guys are working harder and fitness regimes are getting more intense.

“I look at Pendles and as good as he looks after his body, if he had done 20 pre-seasons like we do now it would have been hard for him to get to 400.

“The seasons are getting longer which will always add to it as well.

“There’s always autonomy in programs and trust gets handed out; I’m sure it fluctuates at different clubs and is athlete dependant.

“There is no-one to hold your hand in that period. There is an expectation that you come back to train. If you fall behind it’s almost impossible to catch up.

“We try and get together and make sure everyone doing the right thing but you can’t always hold their hands. Injuries will come but everyone is trying to do the same amount of work.”

Asked how he is feeling about his own rehab, the 35-year-old added: “For me it’s lay low for seven days and build back up.

“It’s not a good thing but I’ve been exposed to best part of a dozen calves in my career so we have a solid plan of what gets me back. We have the plan in place, so I won’t miss any intra club. Not ideal but not a worst-case scenario.”