It’s a brutal blow for Richmond and its young gun.
Taj Hotton will be sidelined for up to four months after scans revealed bone stress in his hip.
Hotton was one of the positives for the Tigers in their match simulation against Essendon on Friday but pulled up sore.
It comes after Hotton missed the first half of last season recovering from an ACL rupture he sustained in his draft season.
Hotton was poised to challenge for the No.1 pick prior to his injury and was widely perceived as a steal for the Tigers at pick 12 in the 2024 super draft.
“Taj will begin modified weight bearing across the next 10 days to two weeks, before starting a slow progression back into running,” Richmond high performance manager Ben Serpell said
“We anticipate that it will be approximately six to eight weeks before he is back running and possibly four months before he is available for selection.
“Taj has done some really strong conditioning over both the off-season and the pre-season, and we were really pleased with how he was placed for this season.
“We know his professionalism will continue across this rehabilitation phase, and we will support him through that.”
At Arden St, North Melbourne has been presented a setback of its own.
George Wardlaw has been ruled out for three to four weeks after he went down with a hamstring during match simulation last week.
Despite the hard-nosed midfielder missing the start of the season, the Roos are confident he will be back in the frame in a month.
“Scans confirmed a low-grade strain similar to the previous injury in the same area,” North Melbourne head of performance Kevin White said.
“He has presented really well today and will look to return to play in the next 3-4 weeks.”
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