Reigning Bombers best and fairest Peter Wright could return a month ahead of schedule after receiving a promising update on his recovery from a shoulder surgery.
The 203cm forward is now expected to play before the Bombers’ round 14 bye, with coach Brad Scott saying Wright wants to play “imminently”.
Wright will be a critical addition for the Bombers as they continue to battle a spate of stress fractures to their key position players that has led to the club consulting Cricket Australia as part of a review of the issue.
Young trio Nik Cox, Harrison Jones and Zach Reid have all been sidelined with back stress fractures this season, with the Bombers short of options at either end of the ground and preyed upon by big forwards Joe Daniher and Tom Hawkins in recent weeks.
Brad Scott says Peter Wright is a chance to make a surprise return before Essendon’s bye. Picture: Michael Klein
“We’re probably in a phase where we’ve been frustrated with losing a couple of players, but the silver lining is we’ve been able to expose some other players in roles and opportunities they wouldn’t have got otherwise,” Scott said.
“But the good news is we do have a lot of players who are closing in on a return – Peter Wright’s well ahead of schedule, so there’s a possibility that he’ll be back before our bye.
“He just had a surgical review and subsequent scan which has shown that the bone healing has progressed faster than the surgeon first thought, so that’s great news … (he has) full range of motion, good strength, he’s just a thorough professional and he’s done everything he could to get back.”
Jake Kelly will miss at least one more week as he battles lingering concussion symptoms. Picture: Michael Klein
Scott said important defender Jordan Ridley was a certain starter for Saturday’s Dreamtime at the ‘G match, but Jake Kelly would remain in the concussion protocols as his symptoms linger.
He said key defender Jayden Laverde was “ahead of schedule” in his return from a shoulder injury, meaning he is set to return earlier than his listed four to five weeks, while No.5 pick Elijah Tsatas joined full training on Wednesday for the first time since he underwent knee surgery.
The return of Wright, who booted 53 goals during his breakout 2022 season, including six hauls of four goals or more, would help streamline Essendon’s ball movement, Scott said.
“It just adds another threat to our forward half, and because Pete, like a lot of good key forwards across the competition, draws the ball, it can make you more predictable,” he said.
“A bit more predictable in our forward half wouldn’t be such a bad thing at the moment.”
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