{"id":493481,"date":"2026-02-21T00:01:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/493481\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T00:01:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:01:21","slug":"george-wardlaw-hamstring-injury-details-updates-contract-extensions-for-sam-durham-josh-dunkley-new-deals-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/493481\/","title":{"rendered":"George Wardlaw hamstring injury, details, updates, contract extensions for Sam Durham, Josh Dunkley, new deals, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A North Melbourne young gun has suffered yet another injury setback. Plus contract extensions for two stars.<\/p>\n<p>The latest footy news and updates in AFL Daily!<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>WHAT&#8217;S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n<p>Watch the 2026 AFL Pre-season AAMI Community Series LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkafl-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-afl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>WARDLAW LEAVES PRACTICE GAME WITH HAMSTRING CONCCERN<\/p>\n<p>North Melbourne young gun George Wardlaw\u2019s luckless injury run has continued with a hamstring setback in a VFL practice game.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afl.com.au\/news\/1467914\/luckless-north-melbourne-kangaroo-george-wardlaw-leaves-vfl-practice-match-with-injury-concern\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">AFL Media first reported<\/a> the 21-year old left Friday night\u2019s game early due to an issue on the same hamstring he injured a fortnight ago. <\/p>\n<p>The Kangaroos will look into the setback over the coming days to determine the severity, but the club is optimistic it isn\u2019t serious. <\/p>\n<p>Finn O Sullivan and George Wardlaw during North Melbourne training (Picture: Brendan Beckett.)Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis summer was so strong \u2014 body and technical, tactical, physical, was unreal. The setback was really minor, to the point where the history of his body saw the reins put on him,\u201d North Melbourne assistant Michael Barlow said earlier on Friday night.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019ll play managed minutes on a varying level or roles to make sure he\u2019s not just that crash and bash mid, which he will be at AFL level when we get him back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It remains a concern for the injury-prone midfielder just three weeks out from North\u2019s Round 1 clash with Port Adelaide in a game Colby McKercher (finger) will be racing the clock to play in. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/afl\/live-afl-preseason-2026-north-melbourne-kangaroos-vs-melbourne-demons-match-simulation-scores-and-updates-blog-stats-squads-latest-news\/news-story\/7ea811d496cca11421d81f545f6ba271\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Charlie Comben could be in hot water for a dangerous tackle that concussed Brody Mihocek<\/a> in Friday\u2019s match simulation. <\/p>\n<p>NEW DEALS FOR DURHAM, DUNKLEY <\/p>\n<p>Rising Bomber Sam Durham and new Brisbane co-captain Josh Dunkley have been rewarded with contract extensions at their respective clubs.<\/p>\n<p>Durham, who was originally signed until 2028, has signed on for another four years to tie him to Essendon until at least 2032.<\/p>\n<p>The deal is the most lucrative in club history, according to AFL Media\u2019s Callum Twomey, and a reward after Durham\u2019s third-placed finish in the 2025 best and fairest.<\/p>\n<p>The extension takes the 24-year old past free agency and will run through when he\u2019s 31.<\/p>\n<p>Parish stars as Bombers down Tigers | 01:13<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know exactly where I want to be, and that is at the Essendon Football Club,\u201d Durham told the club\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy focus is entirely on bringing success to this team and our supporters. I didn\u2019t want to wait for free agency, I wanted to lock in my future right now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have great faith in this list and in Brad (Scott) and the coaches to take us where we need to go. There\u2019s a real sense of confidence in the program; we\u2019re working hard every day to get better, and I\u2019m just excited to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Dunkley has been given an additional two years to the six-year deal he signed upon crossing to the Lions at the end of 2022, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afl.com.au\/news\/1467611\/new-brisbane-lions-co-captain-josh-dunkley-rewarded-with-contract-extension\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">reports AFL Media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 Merrett-Murray Meda, originally contracted until 2038, is now tied to the Lions until 2030 along with Will and Levi Ashcroft.<\/p>\n<p> Dunkley was this week was announced as one of three Brisbane skippers in 2026 alongside Harris Andrews and Hugh McCluggage ahead of their quest for a three-peat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A North Melbourne young gun has suffered yet another injury setback. Plus contract extensions for two stars. The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[233553,638,64,63,689,55,639,248977,13665,27553,51247,11231,248978,1127,248974,14414,4517,49810,22215,115359,12098,216504,248975,218846,647,73918,7204,677,6082,149178,248976,1124,85,660,9020],"class_list":{"0":"post-493481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-aami-community-series-live","9":"tag-afl","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","13":"tag-australian-football-league","14":"tag-australianfootballleague","15":"tag-bomber-sam-durham","16":"tag-club-history","17":"tag-contract-extensions","18":"tag-darcy-parish","19":"tag-essendon-bombers","20":"tag-finn-o-sullivan","21":"tag-fox-footy","22":"tag-fresh-setback","23":"tag-george-wardlaw","24":"tag-hamstring-injury","25":"tag-hamstring-setback","26":"tag-heat-wave","27":"tag-injury-setback","28":"tag-josh-dunkley","29":"tag-luckless-injury-run","30":"tag-luckless-star","31":"tag-match-simulation","32":"tag-melbourne","33":"tag-michael-barlow","34":"tag-north-melbourne-kangaroos","35":"tag-oceania","36":"tag-port-adelaide","37":"tag-practice-game","38":"tag-richest-deal","39":"tag-south-australia","40":"tag-sports","41":"tag-victoria","42":"tag-young-gun"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493481","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=493481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}