Cam Guthrie at centre of awful new update after injury-plagued AFL season in 2023
The dual best and fairest winner is set to miss a large chunk of the AFL season with a thigh injury.
Geelong veteran Cam Guthrie has been ruled out for the first couple of months of the 2024 AFL season after he suffered a thigh injury in the opening seconds of the Cats pre-season hitout against Carlton last Thursday. The premiership winner is set to miss at least eight weeks with a damaged tendon in his right quad.
The Cats star won possession from the opening centre bounce in Thursday's trial but after kicking the ball collapsed to the ground. "The prognosis indicates Cam will be sidelined for eight to 10 weeks," Geelong's football manager Andrew Mackie revealed on Tuesday.
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Guthrie's return to the team was seen as a massive boost for the Geelong midfield after the dual best and fairest winner managed only six games last year as a result of a complex foot injury. The Cats star underwent surgery on his toe before making his VFL return late in the season.
The midfielder didn't manage to force his way back into the senior team at the backend of the 2023 season, despite the Cats' struggles, losing four of their final five games. Before his toe and quad injury, Guthrie had remained largely injury-free throughout his illustrious 236-game career.
Guthrie was determined to return to full fitness after his toe injury and had been working closely with Australian Ballet's chief physiotherapist Dr Sue Mayes in the off-season in a bid to avoid injuries and to help him recapture the form that saw him earn the club's best and fairest award in 2022. "I was hopeful I’d be able to come back and contribute in the back half of the year but I didn’t get that chance after going in for surgery," Guthrie previously told 7News.
Chris Scott believes Geelong can win the flag in 2024
Geelong coach Chris Scott believes the club can improve on their 2022 premiership-winning performance in the upcoming season, declaring they have as good a chance as anyone to win the flag in 2024. "I feel that if things go well for us we are going to be as good a chance as anyone," Scott said.
"And you can frame that different ways. Looking at it through an optimistic lens, I think we can improve on what our best footy has looked like in the past two years. Last year we were inconsistent for reasons we think were pretty obvious."
Included in the "pretty obvious" reasons Scott alluded to was the serious unavailability of key players throughout the season. Key Cats members Jack Henry, Guthrie, Mitch Duncan, Rhys Stanley, Jed Bews and Gary Rohan all had extended stints on the sidelines. While Paddy Dangerfield and Jeremy Cameron both regularly played hurt throughout the year.
with AAP
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