Geelong are facing the prospect of being without captain Patrick Dangerfield for the next three weeks.
Scans on Monday confirmed the superstar suffered a hamstring injury in the closing stages of the Cats’ win over Adelaide on Friday night.
As his teammates returned home, Dangerfield made the unique decision to spend an extra day in Adelaide to rehab the injury with Geelong head of medical Steve Saunders.
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“Stayed back for a couple of days … d’Arenberg Winery without the wine celebrating (Tom Stewart) Stew’s 150th so it was nice to be back in SA for a couple of days,” he told Channel 7 on Monday.
Dangerfield added the hamstring felt “pretty good”, and hopes to only miss two matches.
The Cats play the Hawks on Easter Monday and then the Bulldogs in Gather Round.
Round 5’s match against North Melbourne will come 23 days after the injury.
“I don’t think it’s too significant and there’s players far worse off than me. Rehab it for a couple of weeks then get back into it,” he said.
The injury continues a frustrating trend for Dangerfield, who missed multiple games last year with a hamstring injury and five matches in 2022 with a calf problem.
It came after a near faultless pre-season and a brilliant start to the season.
“That part is frustrating, there’s no doubt about that, there’s no sugarcoating that,” he said.
“But it is was it is. It’s a tough game but it depends how you look at it … Geez I am unfortunate or you could look around the league at players who suffer season-ending injuries in the first few weeks if not the pre-season.
“Last year was interesting, I progressed really well, I just couldn’t hit top speed for a weeks. I don’t think it’s necessarily over cautious, it’s just playing it how it feels.”
The Cats will likely regain midfielders Tanner Bruhn and Tom Atkins for Monday’s clash against Hawthorn.
Young ruck Toby Conway could also come in for just the second match of his career with doubts surrounding Rhys Stanley.