Fremantle Dockers star midfielder Nat Fyfe will not feature in Saturday’s International Rules Test against Ireland after sustaining a shoulder injury in a practice match.
The 2014 AFL Players’ Association player of the year injured the shoulder after landing awkwardly in a marking attempt late in a practice session against a New South Wales Gaelic team at the Aussie camp in Sydney on Tuesday.
“I dived for a mark and simply landed the wrong way and it didn’t feel right,” Fyfe said in a statement.
“I’ve loved the experience over the last few days and meeting players from across the competition, and it’s incredibly disappointing to miss out.”
A major shoulder injury contributed to Fyfe managing just eight games in 2012, but Fremantle fans will be somewhat relieved to learn his latest shoulder issue has impacted his “good” arm and not the troublesome left side which has already twice gone under the surgeon’s knife.
Fyfe, who was last weekend awarded the Fremantle’s best and fairest award for the second year in a row, will fly back to Perth with the rest of the Australian team on Tuesday night. The Dockers are concerned the 23-year-old may have injured the AC joint in the shoulder, but won’t know how serious the issue is until Thursday.
“It was the view of Australian team management, after consultation with medical staff, no risk would be taken with any player and he was ruled out, to be further assessed by his club,” an AFL statement said.
Brent Harvey, Chad Wingard, Patrick Dangerfield and Nick Riewoldt were among the AFL’s best in a crushing 86-7 defeat of the NSW Gaelic team.
Photo: Philip Gostelow/Getty Images.
