Carlton coach Michael Voss insists Sam Walsh’s indefinite absence with a back injury isn’t cause for concern, despite the star midfielder missing at least the first two games of the AFL season.
Hard-running Walsh had appeared in doubt for Friday night’s opening-round clash with Brisbane after tweaking his back, a long-running issue, in February.
The injury previously scuppered the end of his 2022 season and the start of Walsh’s 2023 campaign.
He had recently been training away from Carlton’s main group.
The Blues confirmed in their injury update on Monday that Walsh was “increasing loads as part of his modified training”, with an update on his progress to be provided after the round-two bye.
Carlton play Richmond on March 14 then have 15 days until their next game against North Melbourne, and insist Walsh will be reassessed during that bye – created due to the Blues playing in the opening round.
“After the intra-club he pulled up fairly sore, so we’ve, I guess, put some milestones in place,” Voss told Fox Footy.
“There’s no timelines on what that actually looks like. We’re guided by, I guess, every stage that he achieves.
“If he gets there quickly, then we advance to the next stage. If he doesn’t get there quickly, then we’ve obviously got to hang on a little while longer.
“So we’ll probably have hopefully a little bit more clearer idea on where he’s at after round two.”
When asked if Walsh’s situation was concerning, Voss said: “No, He’s progressing as needed, but we’d just like it to be going clearly a little faster than what it actually is.
Sam Walsh. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
“We’re cautious because of the surgery he had, what, last year, and that he’s had some soreness in that area previously.
“So we just need to be a little cautious that when he shows signs like that, we certainly don’t want to create that again.”
Voss confirmed Zac Williams would return from his ACL tear against Brisbane.
“He’ll be there, which is just a brilliant story,” the coach said.
“Let him know yesterday in front of the team that he’d be playing and, yeah, it was pretty emotional.”
Small forward Jesse Motlop will also miss the Lions clash with a jarred toe suffered in Carlton’s practice match against Melbourne.
Motlop is expected to miss one to two weeks.
In the post-round two bye window, the Blues will also reassess key defenders Jacob Weitering (calf) and Caleb Marchbank (illness).