2 weeks Ago By Brent Godde
Holbrook's top-two aspirations have suffered an early blow with long term injuries to star midfielder Jock Triggs and talented teenager . or signup to continue reading Triggs suffered a fractured collarbone against Howlong in the opening round and is set to miss at least six weeks as he recovers. Webb who returned to his junior club this season after a stint with North Albury suffered a torn ACL in a pre-season practice match and has already undergone a knee reconstruction.
The Brookers have claimed two top-six scalps from last year in the opening two rounds after wins over Howlong and RWW Giants to remain one of four unbeaten sides. Mackinlay conceded Triggs and Webb were both pivotal players for the Brookers as they look to narrow the gap on Osborne who has won the past two flags. Triggs also missed a large chunk of last season after suffering a in round 8 and not returning until round 18 and was part of the Brookers' losing grand final side against the Tigers.
"Scans have revealed Jock has a fractured collarbone," Mackinlay said. "Initially Jock thought it was an AC sprain and probably a three week injury. "But the X-ray showed a fracture and it happened when he collided with big Tim Hanna from Howlong which is a bit like chalk and cheese in regards to size.
"It was nothing untoward...
just a big collision. "Triggy hasn't had much luck with injuries recently and we may need to wrap him up in cotton wool and not let him out for a while. "We are thinking at least six weeks on the sidelines which may be a fraction optimistic.
"It's frustrating because I keep pumping up his tyres and tell anyone that will listen how good a player he is. "He is rated so highly internally but nobody else in the competition has hardly got to see him play yet. "Jock is such a great little player with is leg speed and has a bit of X-factor about him which makes our midfield so much better.
"I think he was leading the Azzi medal last year after six rounds, he's that sort of player. "Just one of those players that has the ability to break the lines and step around opposition players and is a bit of a vote catcher." Mackinlay said he was also bitterly disappointed to see Webb succumb to a season ending injury and was set for a breakout year after a big pre-season.
"Webby done a big number on his knee, so he got into the surgeon fairly quickly and had his knee operation two weeks ago," he said. "He now starts the rehab process which is unfortunate because Webby was one of our fittest players and had put in the hard work over the pre-season. "It was a fairly innocuous incident in a practice match which caused the injury.
"We had big expectations for Webby this year after playing a bit of O&M seniors and a playing a role across half-back and also in the midfield. "He is a clever player who reads the play well and is always trying to get the best out of himself at training. "It's a bit of a dampener when you see a player who has worked so hard over the pre-season do a knee without playing a game.
"He sat up in the coaches box in the opening round and helped Russell Parker run the bench and is keen to help out wherever he can." Daily Today's top stories curated by our news team. Weekdays Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation.
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