Geelong Advertiser | INVERLEIGH has been dealt a double blow, with ruckman James Huybens and key forward Dalton Grundell to miss Saturday’s blockbuster against Bannockburn.
Huybens has had surgery on his arm and is expected to miss 6-12 weeks after injuring himself in the Hawks’ win over Winchelsea on Saturday.
Grundell accepted a one-week set penalty for striking Winchelsea’s Tavae Sauni in the second quarter of the Hawks’ win on Saturday.
The timing couldn’t be worse for the Hawks, who tackle the Tigers in a top-of-the-table clash.
Inverleigh heads into the match undefeated, while Bannockburn is coming off a 20-goal smashing of East Geelong.
Inverleigh originally thought Huybens would miss the rest of the season, but doctors who operated on the key big man said the injury was not as bad as first thought.
He picked up the injury in a tangle of arms late in the clash against the Blues.
Coach Mark McDowell said Inverleigh had “a number of options” to replace Huybens.
Brad Diblasio and Brad Anderson are two options at McDowell’s disposal.
Grundell has kicked 35 goals this season and McDowell said losing him would be a “bit of a blow” for his side.
“It’s hard to cover that spot but I’m pretty confident we can cover it pretty well,” he said.
“It stretches us in one respect but it makes us be a little bit more creative up forward. It’s part of football.
“It’s probably a good thing in one respect. What happens if ... you don’t want to be relying on one player ... and they can get injured at any time in any game. We’re confident we can get the job done. It’s going to be a massive task for us, but we’ll put our best foot forward and hopefully it will be good enough.”
