Collingwood gun forward Jamie Elliott will be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks as he battles a vascular issue in his foot.
Elliott has been sidelined since Round 8 with a foot injury later determined to be a vascular problem amid widespread casualties for the reigning premiers.
In an injury update on Tuesday night, the Pies confirmed Elliott’s vascular issue is “progressing well and almost resolved.” He’s on a modified program and expected to begin outdoor running later this week as he eyes a return later in the season.
It comes after Channel 9’s Tom Morris reported on Footy Furnace that “the narrative has changed” with Elliott, revealing people close to the 31-year old said there were some doubts around his football future.
Morris on SEN radio on Monday morning further expanded on the latest surrounding Elliott’s injury.
“No one can really say when Jamie Elliott will be back from the vascular issue,” Morris said.
“It could be career-threatening. No one can tell me when he’s going to be back … this (injury) started as two to four weeks, according to Collingwood, now it’s TBC.
“There’s two elements, one is when is he going to be fit to play. And two, does he have the will to get back and desperately want to play again.”
The premiership forward, whose 14 goals from eight games rank third at Collingwood in 2024, is contracted until the end of next season.
Former Magpies coach Nathan Buckley provided further insights into the extent of the 187-gamer’s vascular issue.
“The only thing I know about his injury is that he was coming off for a couple of weeks midway through a second quarter and couldn’t feel his foot,” Buckley said on SEN.
“He’d take his boot off and it (his foot) was black. That’s a concern, you know something’s not right. They were able to find the vascular issue, which is basically blood flow into and out of his foot.”
After overcoming several injury setbacks over his career, Elliott played a career-high 24 games for a personal best 39 goals in Collingwood premiership-winning 2023 campaign.
“He has had long-term injuries at different stages of his career and he’s withstood a great deal, he’s gone through that and become a premiership player. He missed seasons on end at times at different stages,” Buckley added.
“He’s been here before and he’s dug himself out, of it. That would be the only concern: ‘Is this something I can dig myself out of?’. Only time will tell with that, they need a bit more time than they’ve had.”
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