James Polkinghorne and Tom Cutler’s 2014 AFL campaigns have come to an early close, with both players undergoing season-ending surgery.
Physical Performance Manager Brett Burton confirmed the pair would be put out to pasture after suffering minor injuries.
“James Polkinghorne tweaked his hammy in the final minutes of the Reserves game, which will be a couple of weeks, so we’ve decided to send him in for off-season surgery,” Burton told Lions TV as part of the Bupa Recovery Report.
“He’s got an ankle which has been giving him some grief over the past couple of weeks, so he’ll have that tidied up mid-week.”
Tom Cutler, who has played just one match in the past six weeks after struggling with a groin complaint, will start working early towards 2015.
“(Cutler) returned from injury last week, but tweaked his knee. He’ll have minor knee surgery and we’ll get him set ready for a good pre-season.”
Meanwhile, Burton also revealed that there were no concerns surrounding Justin Clarke, who was subbed out of last Sunday’s match due to illness, not injury.
“Clarkey had a bit of a virus. It’s that time of year when there’s colds and flus going around,” Burton said.
“It’s nothing major, he just went into the game a little under the weather and struggled a little bit, so was subbed out at half-time. He’ll get over that and be fine for this week.”
Lions put out to pasture
James Polkinghorne and Tom Cutler will miss the remainder of the season