Both Carlton and Richmond have failed to exit their most recent fixture unscathed after both Michael Voss and Damien Hardwick were left lamenting injuries to key players.
After being brought swiftly through the doors at Princes Park and into the Blues' senior side just 16 days after the Mid-Season Draft, former Kangaroo Sam Durdin was unable to run out his first AFL contest since September 17, 2020.
Standing at 195cms and tipping the scales at 95kgs, the 26-year-old was snapped up by Carlton earlier this month in an effort to cover the resurgent club's threadbare defensive stocks.
Yet, after managing to curtail Jack Riewoldt's influence for much of Richmond's 15-point win on Thursday night at the MCG, the South Australian spent much of the final term on the bench after injuring a knee.
Speaking in the wash-up of his side's fourth loss of the season, Voss stated that despite the Blues' latest defensive whack, it was a case of "next man up" to help fill the widening void.
โClearly weโre looking at the knee to see whatโs going on there. He ended up coming off late because he got hit again, he said he just had someone fall on it again,โ Voss told members of the media.
โWeโve got next man up. Weโre hoping thereโs another one there. The expectation for us is that they come in and play a role for us and they get it done. Iโve said it in here before, players are not whingeing about it, weโre not referencing it.โ
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Though Voss' desire to move on and fix the issue rather than wallowing is now on record, the triple premiership-winning Lion has very little to call on, with each of Jacob Weitering, Caleb Marchbank, Luke Parks and Mitch McGovern still stuck on the sidelines.
And with match-ups against the ilk of Matt Taberner, Max King, Tim Membrey, Jack Darling, Josh Kennedy, Tom Hawkins and Jeremey Cameron to come across the next month, an already challenging task is set to become tougher.
Carlton was also hit in their forward half following Jack Martin's night ending with a calf complaint.
In spite of claiming their sixth win from their last seven starts, the smiles at Tigerland were sure to be muted somewhat this morning after the news that swingman Noah Balta had reinjured his hamstring.
The 22-year-old spent three weeks out of Damien Hardwick's side earlier in the year following a kicking-related strain, with the three-time premiership coach confirming that it was infact the same tendon that Balta had reinjured.
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โItโs always a concern when a player re-injures. Once again the significance will multiply because itโs a recurrence. Itโs disappointing,โ Hardwick stated as the dust settled on the win.
โWeโve just got to figure out how we can keep him on the park consistently because heโs such a dynamic player and heโs special."
Richmond will seek to keep their momentum rolling in Balta's absence when they travel down the highway to face Geelong at Kardinia Park next Saturday afternoon.
