\n Max Gawn fractured his finger during training this week, while a number of other Demons are on the comeback from injury\n <\/p>\n
Max Gawn during a Melbourne training session at Casey Fields on April 15, 2025. Picture: Getty Images<\/p>\n
MELBOURNE skipper Max Gawn will spend the next few weeks with the rehab group after suffering a fractured finger during training.<\/p>\n
Gawn will wear a splint for the next three weeks but the club is confident the injury will not impact his availability for AAMI AFL Origin.<\/p>\n
Melbourne footy boss Alan Richardson said Gawn will continue to maintain his fitness throughout his time on the sidelines.<\/p>\n
“He’ll be able to continue running and will maintain his fitness, which means his ability to play in the upcoming AFL Origin match won’t be affected,” Richardson said.<\/p>\n
Max Gawn poses during the AAMI Origin media opportunity at Whitten Oval on December 11, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
Fellow ruck Tom Campbell has also been sidelined after injuring his neck in an innocuous collision at training. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Campbell tore a ligament and will remain in a neck brace for the next month, with the 34-year-old to see a neurosurgeon this week to determine the best path forward.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Harry Sharp suffered a hamstring injury but is expected to return to full training in the next few weeks, and veteran Jack Viney has been working through an Achilles injury.<\/p>\n
Viney has returned to running with the aim to return to full training in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
“Jack’s been managing that Achilles soreness and, pleasingly, has been making some really positive steps through that rehab,” Richardson said.<\/p>\n
Jack Viney marks the ball during the match between Hawthorn and Melbourne at the MCG in round 23, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
In other injury news, young midfielder Bailey Laurie suffered a hand fracture which required surgery.<\/p>\n
“We’re hopeful he won’t miss too much football,” Richardson said.<\/p>\n
“His return will be determined according to his hand functionality, but it’s likely that he’ll be back with the main group in the next couple weeks.”<\/p>\n
Jack Henderson has been managing a stress fracture to his sacrum throughout pre-season and is expected to return to main training at the end of February.<\/p>\n
Jack Henderson in action during the match between Geelong and Melbourne at GMHBA Stadium in round four, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
Premiership defender Jake Bowey will miss the start of the 2026 season after sustained a long-term foot injury in December, with the Demon beginning to work through the early stages of rehab.<\/p>\n
Draftee Tom Matthews (meniscus), ex-Pie Brody Mihocek (toe), forward Shane McAdam (Achilles), and NGA product Andy Moniz-Wakefield (knee) all continue to progress through their respective rehab programs.<\/p>\n
Melbourne kicks off its season against St Kilda at the MCG on March 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Max Gawn fractured his finger during training this week, while a number of other Demons are on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":["post-412230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}