{"id":461498,"date":"2026-02-06T04:16:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T04:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/461498\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T04:16:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T04:16:19","slug":"george-wardlaw-injures-hamstring-at-north-melbourne-kangaroos-mark-keane-stretchered-off-at-training-with-leg-injury-zac-becker-invited-as-ssp-train-on-player-injury-timeline-sturt-doubles-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/461498\/","title":{"rendered":"George Wardlaw injures hamstring at North Melbourne Kangaroos, Mark Keane stretchered off at training with leg injury, Zac Becker invited as SSP train-on player, injury timeline, Sturt Doubles Blues, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Melbourne midfielder George Wardlaw has reportedly left training early on Friday morning, leaving the young gun under an injury cloud ahead of his side\u2019s pre-season fixtures.<\/p>\n

Seven\u2019s Theo Doropoulos reported on Friday morning that the 21-year-old left the club\u2019s match simualtion prematurely with a hamstring complaint, though the initial hope is he has avoided serious damage.<\/p>\n

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Foxfooty.com.au understands Wardlaw isn\u2019t expected to play in the Roos\u2019 upcoming practice matches as the club takes considerable caution with the gun midfielder, who has a history of hamstring issues.<\/p>\n

Wardlaw, now in some doubt for Round 1, will undergo scans on Saturday, with the club maintaining hope the injury is on the minor side.<\/p>\n

Hamstring problems specifically have persisted the young gun since his draft year in 2022, before a high-grade hamstring tear in January last year<\/a> sidelined him until Round 6 of the AFL season. <\/p>\n

The inside bull also suffered his third concussion in 12 months last year, after a heavy collision against Hawthorn, prompting \u201cextremely serious\u201d worries about his long-term future.<\/p>\n

Wardlaw has played 26 games at the top level since his debut season in 2023.<\/p>\n

In more positive news for the club, Nine\u2019s Braden Ingram reports that Sturt product Zac Becker will be given the chance to train at Arden Street ahead of the Monday, March 2 deadline for Supplemental Selection Period (SSP) players to be signed.<\/p>\n

Becker, 22, was the Double Blues\u2019 Best & Fairest runner-up last year as a defender in a premiership-winning season.<\/p>\n

The Kangaroos currently have one list spot available, after an unfortunate ACL injury to Jackson Archer ruled the young defender out of the 2026 season. <\/p>\n

CROWS AWAIT CONFIRMATION ON GRUESOME INJURY<\/p>\n

Adelaide\u2019s defensive stocks look set to take an unwelcome hit heading into the 2026 season, after Irishman Mark Keane landed awkwardly on his right ankle at training on Friday.<\/p>\n

In vision tweeted by Nine\u2019s Braden Ingram, The 25-year-old was stretchered off the West Lakes training track in agonising pain, after clashing with new recruit Finnbar Maley in a marking contest.<\/p>\n

Seven\u2019s Josh Money first reported the injury,<\/a> describing the blow as \u201cserious\u201d and one that at this stage looks likely to be diagnosed as a broken ankle.<\/p>\n

The news comes just weeks after third-year young gun Daniel Curtin dislocated his kneecap in a wrestling drill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Melbourne midfielder George Wardlaw has reportedly left training early on Friday morning, leaving the young gun under…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-461498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461498","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=461498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}