Roar midfielder Andrew Packer faces a battle to make the A-League’s big kick-off next month after a scan revealed a ‘significant’ tear in his right hamstring.
By Jon Ritson
A six-week lay off now beckons for the player, who suffered the damage in the win over Supersport United, but the club insists it would be folly to try and rush him back before the injury has healed properly.
Roar physiotherapist Tony Ganter said: “The MRI shows that Andrew has a significant tear in his right hamstring so he’s looking at somewhere around the five to six week mark before he returns.
“It’s almost six- centimetres long; a typical grade two tear. He already has a cross-training program that we’ve written for him this week. He’ll have to maintain a careful process of healing through the correct and appropriate training stages.
“Once he can work through all those phases we’ll reintroduce him to ball work, but we’re unlikely to see him on the field in July.
“Unfortunately these injuries don’t come with prior warning signs so with his recovery we need to make sure there are no errors. If we do hurry him through recovery, then we jeopardize his chances of starting in round one of the Hyundai A-League. I
“If we get it right, he should be back for that first round with a game or two under his belt as well.”
Packer himself is trying to maintain a positive approach as he bids to get back into the action as quickly as possible.
He said: “I’ve never really had a muscle injury so I’ve just got to follow the program Tony [Ganter] has set out for me and hopefully I can be back as soon as possible.
“I’ve always been the type of person that recovers quicker than expected so hopefully this is the same thing. The funny thing is I have full strength in my leg and can do pretty much all the physiotherapy tests no drama. I’m not sure why, but when the MRI results came back it was obvious that the tear is quite large so we’re not going to take any chances.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the boys play this Saturday against Sydney; I think we’ve done really well so far.
“We’re looking really structured and knocking the ball around well; Frank has put together an excellent squad so far and everyone is gelling so we’re looking good.”
Roar begins its Pre-Season Cup campaign on the Sunshine Coast against Sydney FC on Saturday.
A six-week lay off now beckons for the player, who suffered the damage in the win over Supersport United, but the club insists it would be folly to try and rush him back before the injury has healed properly.
Roar physiotherapist Tony Ganter said: “The MRI shows that Andrew has a significant tear in his right hamstring so he’s looking at somewhere around the five to six week mark before he returns.
“It’s almost six- centimetres long; a typical grade two tear. He already has a cross-training program that we’ve written for him this week. He’ll have to maintain a careful process of healing through the correct and appropriate training stages.
“Once he can work through all those phases we’ll reintroduce him to ball work, but we’re unlikely to see him on the field in July.
“Unfortunately these injuries don’t come with prior warning signs so with his recovery we need to make sure there are no errors. If we do hurry him through recovery, then we jeopardize his chances of starting in round one of the Hyundai A-League. I
“If we get it right, he should be back for that first round with a game or two under his belt as well.”
Packer himself is trying to maintain a positive approach as he bids to get back into the action as quickly as possible.
He said: “I’ve never really had a muscle injury so I’ve just got to follow the program Tony [Ganter] has set out for me and hopefully I can be back as soon as possible.
“I’ve always been the type of person that recovers quicker than expected so hopefully this is the same thing. The funny thing is I have full strength in my leg and can do pretty much all the physiotherapy tests no drama. I’m not sure why, but when the MRI results came back it was obvious that the tear is quite large so we’re not going to take any chances.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the boys play this Saturday against Sydney; I think we’ve done really well so far.
“We’re looking really structured and knocking the ball around well; Frank has put together an excellent squad so far and everyone is gelling so we’re looking good.”
Roar begins its Pre-Season Cup campaign on the Sunshine Coast against Sydney FC on Saturday.
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