SEVEN players have been placed on Port Adelaide’s injury list ahead of its first NAB Challenge match on Sunday.
The Power’s first official injury list release indicates a number of players will be pushing for a return in the opening round of either the AFL or SANFL seasons.
Senior defender Jackson Trengove and forward Chad Wingard lead the pack and should be in the mix for Port’s first game against Fremantle in Perth on Easter Sunday.
Both are up-to-four-week propositions.
“Jackson’s progressing probably better than expected, he’s joining in some low-contact training drills and we expect him to be ready around the start of the season,” head of high performance Darren Burgess told portadelaidefc.com.au.
“Chad will begin running this week and we’ll just assess from there how quickly he can progress back into full training.”
Ruckman Jarrad Redden is expected to play in the NAB Challenge as he enters the final stages of rehabilitation from a knee injury.
Burgess praised Redden’s past month on the track, which has seen him make a long-awaited return to contact training with the Power’s ruck stocks.
“The last six weeks has been outstanding, he’s been in full ruck-contact drills and doing really well,” Burgess said.
“We expect him to play some part in the NAB Challenge.”
Sam Colquhoun and Mason Shaw continue to shape as early-season prospects.
Colquhoun is on track to return from an anterior cruciate ligament injury a month early, with potential availability in Round 1 of the season.
Shaw, meanwhile, is six weeks away from a full training resumption having suffered a groin problem in recent weeks.
His training load has been reduced, according to Burgess.
“Mason started to get some soreness so we’re giving him a 3-4 week rest and then building him up into training. He’ll be around the mark near the start of the season,” Burgess said.
“It’s just some minor soreness, he’s done every part of pre-season until now. We just want to give him away from training for a couple of weeks and then build him back up.
“For Sam, Round 4 of the SANFL is the one-year mark of his ACL and we think he’ll be around the mark at the start of the season, so he could be back within 11 months from the point of injury.
“We’ll ease him back into game time from there.
“He also hasn’t missed a beat, he’s been excellent and if anything we’re holding him back a bit.”
New recuits Logan Austin and Billy Frampton continue their recovery from recent surgeries.
The pair were drafted to Alberton with respective shoulder and shin complaints, and the Power made the call to have both operated on last year.
While Frampton was placed on the long-term injury list last month, Austin remains a chance to play in Round 1.
“We recruited Logan with a shoulder injury is at week eight of his shoulder recovery. He’ll be a 3-4 week progression from there,” Burgess said.
“Billy was came here with bi-lateral shin problems and battled all through last season with it.
“We decided to operate on it late last year and will give him every chance to recover as a long-term prospect for the club.”
Port Adelaide AFL injury list (as of Tuesday 2 March)
Jarrad Redden – knee (2 weeks)
Logan Austin – shoulder (3-4 weeks)
Sam Colquhoun – knee (3-4 weeks)
Jackson Trengove – shoulder (2-4 weeks)
Chad Wingard – knee (3-4 weeks)
Mason Shaw – groin (3-4 weeks)
Billy Frampton – shins (6-9 weeks)*
*denotes long-term injury list
