Hawthorn draftee sidelined before career even begins as nightmare injury run deepens
Hawthorn's nightmare pre-season has gone from bad to worse, with father-son draftee Will McCabe being ruled out for at least three months with a bone stress in his back.
McCabe was selected with pick 19 in the 2023 draft, following in his father Luke's footsteps in the brown and gold.
However, it will be a while before the 18-year-old takes to the field, with the Hawks confirming they sent McCabe for scans after he complained of back soreness, only to reveal a much bigger issue.
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"Unfortunately Will finished a training session recently and reported some back soreness, being a young player we wanted to do some more investigation, so we sent him for scans," Hawks performance manager Peter Burge said in a club statement.
"That showed that he had some bone stress in his back. He's had to scale right back now and move into a non-weight-bearing program.
Draftee Will McCabe will have to wait up to three months to start his AFL career. AFL Photos via Getty Images
"It will be a very staged process and progression, and a careful one at that - like all our first-year players they're on managed training when they come in and he was on that program, but unfortunately we've ended up in this position."
It has been a horrible lead up to the 2024 season for the young Hawthorn brigade, with a plethora of injuries taking down three other defenders in the space of a week.
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McCabe becomes the fourth to go down, following Changkuoth Jiath with a hamstring injury, James Blanck (ACL) and Denver Grainger-Barras with toe problems.
Blanck will undergo surgery next week, while Grainger-Barras is already in recovery mode from his time under the knife, with a 12-14 week recovery rate expected.
Jiath has returned to low level training after his hamstring strain during last week's intraclub game.
"He plays at an intensity which is as high as anyone... unfortunately he had an incident where he was running at speed and went to change pace and injured his hamstring in that action," Burge said.
"He has started low-level jogging again, he's moving, he's active, which is a positive."
Changkuoth Jiath of the Hawks is one of many defenders on the road to recovery. Getty
Meantime, new recruit Mabior Chol looks to have escaped any serious damage after landing awkwardly from a contest in the club's practice match against the Western Bulldogs on Friday.
Chol was caught up in a contest during the second quarter of the clash at Whitten Oval, lying on the ground in pain, looking to be clutching at his wrist.
The 27-year-old was helped to his feet and escorted off the ground by club trainers.
However, Hawks fans can breathe a sigh of relief for now, with Chol returning to the field in the third quarter of the match.
Hawthorn will face Essendon at the MCG in round one.
