Sydney Swans midfielder Luke Parker will consult an eye specialist this week to assess the injury he suffered to his right eye in last week’s NAB Challenge clash with West Coast.
The 21-year-old, who was taken to hospital after he suffered a knock to the eye in the first quarter of last Thursday’s match, avoided any serious damage, but has been ruled out of the Swans' pre-season match against the Brisbane Lions at Burpengary.
Swans physiotherapist Matt Cameron said the results from the specialist will determine Parker’s training schedule in the next week.
“He got a finger to the eye and had some bruising on the front of his eye, so he needed to be taken off to hospital just to be checked out,” Cameron told SwansTV.
“He’s at home resting now and will see the specialist this week to determine really what happens from here.
“There is no immediate danger at the moment and he’s looking like a chance to resume training in a week or so.
“Once we’ve got some more information we’ll know where he’s at for round one.”
Fellow young midfielder Tom Mitchell is expected to be available to play against the Lions this Saturday after being left out of the Swans’ NAB Challenge side last week with a calf niggle.
Cameron said the 20-year-old was only left out of last week’s team as a precautionary measure.
“He’s not injured per se; he’s just a bit sore in the calf,” he said.
“He’s had a big pre-season and we just didn’t want to take the risk.
“He’ll be training later this week and should be playing this weekend.”
Adam Goodes and Kurt Tippett have both resumed running after the pair suffered setbacks from their respective knee injuries.
Cameron said Goodes will step up his running program again this week after being pulled back from his training program.
“He did get a bit sore again and we’ve had to pull back and wait a bit but he’s due to start running again this week.
“We’re happy with the way he’s going at the moment.”
Cameron said the medical team were also pleased with Tippett’s progress after tendonitis set him back at the end of January.
“His is more of a problem with the tendon in his knee and that did flare up in late January,” he said.
“He’d had a good pre-season up until then.
“He’s back running as well so we’re happy with how he’s going.”
In other injury news, Cameron said Tommy Walsh, who was recently placed on the long-term injury list, still had work ahead of him in his recovery from a serious hamstring tear.
“He’s had a really significant injury with the ruptured hamstring and it’s really not quite strong enough yet to get stuck into fast running or sprint training,” he said.
“He’s in a bit of a holding pattern while his strength improves and he’s just working on his fitness levels at the moment.
“He’s been training really hard and we’re hoping that in the next couple of weeks that he’ll be ready to sprint and then he’ll be able to start training with the team.”
