Simmonds to miss AFL round one
March 27, 2007
AAP
RICHMOND will head into its season opener against Carlton without ruckman Troy Simmonds, coach Terry Wallace has confirmed.
Simmonds has been battling an ankle injury and Wallace said it would be round three at the earliest before the big man returned.
Wallace had left the door open for Simmonds to play in round one after the 28-year-old showed good progress recovering from ankle surgery in January, but conceded it was too soon for him to play this weekend.
"In the initial stages, he had a spike in his training where all of a sudden we got hopeful that he might be able to make it for round one but it was a 10-week injury, we knew it was a 10-week injury," Wallace said.
The loss leaves the ruck duties against the Blues on Sunday on the shoulders of Trent Knobel and youngster Adam Pattison.
Pattison said he was "beaten pretty badly" in the hit-outs in a practice match against the Sydney Swans duo Darren Jolly and Peter Everitt earlier this month, but felt he had improved with subsequent games.
"Trent and myself are really looking forward to taking the load and getting the team off to a good start in the middle," Pattison said.
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