AFL injury news: Jarman Impey likely to miss the rest of the season, Scott Pendlebury played through pain of crack rib

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson fears important defender Jarman Impey could miss the rest of the season, but his absence paves the way for high-end draft pick Denver Grainger-Barras to make his debut against Greater Western Sydney at the MCG on Sunday. Impey suffered a serious ankle strain at training this week and faces the prospect of surgery, which would bring an end to his 2021 campaign. It’s a blow for the Hawks ahead of the clash with the Giants, given Impey’s form this season, but it now means the club will field a third debutant in as many weeks. Stream selected Fox Footy shows on Kayo Freebies completely free this June including AFL 360, On The Couch, Bounce & more. No Credit Card. No Brainer. Register Free Now “(Impey) just landed on someone’s foot … you quite often see it in a basketball injury,” Clarkson said. “His (injury) is a serious ankle strain.” “We just need to see whether we go for surgery or let it heal naturally, but we will make that decision once the swelling goes down in the next week or so. “He is going to miss a fair slab of footy.” Asked if he thought Impey would miss the rest of the season, he said: “Yeah, I think so.” Grainger-Barras, 19, was the Hawks’ first pick in last year’s draft - pick No.6 overall - and the club’s highest selection in 15 years. The former Swan Districts key defender had some injury issues earlier in the season, but has impressed in recent weeks with the Box Hill Hawks. “He is a high-end draft pick for us and we haven’t had a lot of those over the course of the last 10 or 15 years,” Clarkson said. “He had an interrupted earlier part of the season, he hurt a knee that knocked him back for about six or eight weeks. He had come back through the Box Hill side for the last two or three weeks. “He is a defender who we are hoping will develop into a really strong player for us in the back end over the next two or three years.” Clarkson said the decision to make Shaun Burgoyne the medical sub for the clash with the Giants had been made after consultation with the veteran and the medical staff. It means he will more than likely be fresh to take on his former side Port Adelaide the following week in what would be his 400th game. “When we initially looked at the schedule at the start of the year, we thought it was going to Gold Coast up in Darwin (for Burgoyne’s 400th game), which was meant to be in the Indigenous Round,” he said. “Then it looked like being Essendon …. Given his syndesmosis injury set him back a couple of weeks, but that didn’t materialise. “We are still yet to get there. We are just focused on the GWS game … (but) hopefully he will be available for next week against Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium.” Clarkson said forward Mitch Lewis - who has missed for a third consecutive game due to a concussion suffered in a boxing training mishap - is edging closer to a return. “He is 95 per cent there, he just needs to tick off (some) protocols),” he said. “He is progressing really well. The problem with it is that he has been (doing that) for the last two weeks, but he has just plateaued. “He has shown some good signs in the back half of this week, so we will hopefully see him training next week and (he will) put his hand up for selection pretty soon.” After a win over Sydney and a game loss to Essendon since the bye, Clarkson is hopeful the Hawks can keep up their competitive efforts against the Giants. “We have been really competitive in the last two games,” he said. “We know we are going to have our work cut out against a pretty strong GWS side that to their credit have been really strong over the last 10 weeks.” Pies skipper’s secret injury revealed Scott Pendlebury secretly played through the pain of a cracked rib for a month in his latest feat of remarkable bravery. The Herald Sun can reveal Pendlebury’s month-long absence from the centre square was as a direct result of that rib issue, sustained in the lead-in to, or during, the Round 8 clash. The club had suggested Pendlebury was allowing young midfielders to flourish as he played mainly forward during that time, attending just 11 centre bounces from Rounds 8-11. He also played through the pain of a badly damaged finger, which was cut open after a bizarre training accident where he needed treatment after it was slashed on Josh Thomas’s teeth. Pendlebury’s ribs were protected by padding but he still performed strongly while out of the centre square, a move to avoid further damage. After attending 25 centre bounces in Round 5, and 28 in Round 6, Pendlebury attended seven in Round 8, four in Round 9, then none in Rounds 10 or 11. In the second half against Adelaide in Round 12, as he began to recover from the injury, he was brilliant, attending 12 centre bounces in total. Then, with his ribs finally healed, he put on another Pendlebury masterclass against Melbourne attending 20 centre bounces to produce a superb 167-ranking point, 31-touch display in Nathan Buckley’s last game as coach. The 33-year-old is out of contract but will play on next year and, with 329 games ahead of the clash against Fremantle, shouldn’t rule out the 400-game milestone. Excluding a nine-game debut season, and last year’s 17-game home-and-away fixture, he has played at least 21 games in every year except for 2017 - a year he played 16 matches. Pendlebury had surgery on his finger in 2017, then played through the pain after re-breaking the middle finger on his left hand during a 2019 comeback win over West Coast. After the Round 11 clash against Geelong this year, coach Nathan Buckley lauded Pendlebury’s bravery, but only mentioned the finger injury. Asked if he was carrying something, Buckley replied: “Yes, he is mate”. But when asked for details, he declined before eventually disclosing only the finger issue. “Very rarely do players take the field 100 per cent fit. He is a tough unit. Actually I can tell you, he put his finger into Josh Thomas’ mouth before the Sydney game and had to have stitches on the finger that’s as manky as all hell already,” Buckley said. “When you have been a warrior for as long as he has, and he’s known for silky smooth skills and making the game look easy, to play as many games as he has, it shows you how much grit, resilience and determination the bloke has got and he’s still showing it in spades.” Pendlebury has spoken openly about the transition away from captaincy and suggested he would be happy to hand over the title to a teammate while still playing. But with a new coach coming in next year, it is unknown whether Pendlebury would remain in the job for another season or Taylor Adams, Jeremy Howe or Brodie Grundy might be handed the role. BIG BLOW FOR BLUES Carlton could be without ruckman Marc Pittonet for the rest of the season after he underwent ankle surgery. The Blues No. 1 ruckman hurt his ankle in last weekend’s loss to GWS Giants and the club decided on Thursday to book him for surgery. Carlton hopes Pittonet could feature towards the end of the season, but only rated him “a chance” of featuring again in 2021. Midfielder Michael Gibbons suffered a serious hamstring injury at training on Thursday, while forward Zac Fisher will miss this weekend’s clash with Adelaide with an ankle issue. The triple blow has heaped further pressure on the Blues, who have lost their last three games and are undergoing a review of their football department. ANOTHER SETBACK FOR INJURY-CURSED LION Former Geelong forward Nakia Cockatoo has been hit by another injury setback just as he was nearing an AFL debut with Brisbane. Cockatoo had played five VFL games in a row and was showing the explosive speed and tackling pressure he is renowned for as he built confidence in his body. But he was taken out of last week’s game after only one possession with hamstring tightness and will not play VFL this week. Brisbane had hoped he was only weeks from playing his first game for the Lions as a potential finals wildcard. The club hopes he will train next week and build back up to a position where he can push for a senior game with Brisbane. He continues to work on pushing himself through minor niggles and pains after becoming understandably cautious about his body. The Lions have had a number of breakthroughs in allowing him to test the limits of his body without injuring himself. But the latest setback will clearly push his potential AFL return to the last week weeks of the season. Cockatoo is hoping to follow the path of fellow injury-prone players Joe Daniher, Grant Birchall and Lincoln McCarthy, who have thrived with the Lions’ injury prevention program. Lions football boss Danny Daly told the Herald Sun this month the club was keen for Birchall to play on given his strong form. And McCarthy is in talks on a new deal after throwing off a diabolical injury history at Geelong to be one of the Lions’ most consistent players. CATS’ FEARS CONFIRMED AS DUNCAN FACES LONG LAYOFF – Josh Barnes Geelong could be without prime mover Mitch Duncan until finals after scans confirmed the Cats fears about his knee injury. Scans confirmed the classy midfielder injured his PCL on his right knee in a collision with Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli on Friday night and he is likely to be out for 8-10 weeks. Jumping for a mark in the opening quarter of the thrilling win, Duncan’s knee made contact with Bontempelli’s hip and he then landed on his right leg. He immediately headed to the bench and had his knee strapped but did not return to the field and was subbed out for Shaun Higgins. Geelong football boss Simon Lloyd said Duncan would turn his focus to rehab. “We were expecting that injury was to Mitch’s PCL and the scan confirmed that,” Lloyd said. “There was no other damage to Mitch’s knee. The rehabilitation timelines will be further discussed with our medical and fitness team in consultation with specialists. “We will explore all available options that will allow Mitch to return as quickly and safely as possible.” Should he miss the next eight matches, Duncan would return in round 23 to face Melbourne. Accounting for the end of year bye, a 10 week timeline would mean Duncan would be back for Geelong's first final. The 30-year-old had been enjoying another consistent season and is averaging 23.7 disposals at 77.6 per cent efficiency. He had missed a week after being concussed against Gold Coast. The news was better for spearhead Tom Hawkins, who is expected to play on Thursday night despite twinging his neck. The star forward grabbed as his neck after a contest in the final term and headed to the bench for treatment but he returned to the field for the final minutes of the match. Defender Lachie Henderson is expected to return after he was a later withdrawal on Friday with a hip issue. Skipper Joel Selwood came under scrutiny but avoided suspension for two separate incidents on Friday night. He received a $1000 fine for misconduct when he appeared to push Bulldog Bailey Dale’s head into the ground while he was pinned in a tackle. Selwood was also handed a $2000 fine for rough conduct when he stood on Taylor Duryea’s leg in the final quarter. Meanwhile, Cats forward Tom Hawkins was treated for what looked to be a serious neck injury in the last quarter but finished the match on the field and said he fully expected to tackle Brisbane at the Gabba next Thursday night. “It’s a bit stiff,” Hawkins said of his neck. “I should be right. I think it’s one of those things that should settle down in the next 24-48 hours.” ‘ASTRO-NAUGHT’ CLEARED FOR TAKE-OFF – Rebecca Williams and Jon Ralph Western Bulldogs forward Aaron Naughton has joined the team on its trip to Perth after being cleared of serious rib injury or internal damage. The Bulldogs flew out on Sunday evening to Perth, where the group will have to spend the week in quarantine at a golf resort ahead of Sunday’s clash against West Coast. Following strict protocols set out by the Western Australian Government, the Bulldogs will only be permitted to leave the Joondalup Resort on the outskirts of Perth to travel to and from training, and the match at Optus Stadium. Naughton was among a skeleton squad of Bulldogs players and staff to make the trip on Sunday after his injury scare in Friday night’s after-the-siren loss to Geelong. He was subbed out at halftime after suffering a suspected rib injury, but scans later cleared him of any serious damage. Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli hoped Naughton would be able to put his hand up to play against the Eagles. “I think the scans that he had post-game were all clear, which is great from that perspective and no real rib damage or anything like that, which is great,” Bontempelli said. “Hopefully he’s able to get through the week and train well and then look to play. “It would be great to have him in the team, no doubt.” The Bulldogs had been hoping to spend the week with more freedom in Sydney before flying on to Perth for the match against the Eagles, but the Harbour City’s Covid cluster forced a change of plans. Bontempelli accepted changes needed to be made on the run to keep the season going. “We’re somewhat a bit stiff with the fixturing in regards to having to travel twice to Perth in the last month,” Bontempelli said. “Other than that, it is what it is. Things are always subject to change, especially off the back of last year. “But (it’s) a good opportunity for us to get away and spend some time together.” The second-placed Bulldogs suffered a five-point loss to the Cats at GMHBA Stadium last Friday night after a Gary Rohan goal after the siren. Bontempelli admitted the loss had left a “bitter taste” for the Bulldogs. “Obviously you build up games like that where you know you have got to head down the highway, play a team who is in really good form and especially on their home deck,” he said. “All things considered I think it was a really good effort by the boys and by the group but you still do walk away feeling a bit … I guess it leaves a bit of a bitter taste in your mouth having played the way that we did and then challenged the way that we were to not win in the end does sting a little bit. “But you process, you learn and you move on.”