MAYO NATIVE PEARCE Hanley is likely to undergo surgery to repair his damaged shoulder after dislocating it for the second time this season in a Round 3 AFL game on Saturday.
Hanley suffered the injury while in action for the Gold Coast Suns against Fremantle. It’s a major setback as Saturday’s game in Perth had marked his recovery after initially dislocating his shoulder in March in a JLT Series game against his former club Brisbane Lions.
The 29-year-old is set to meet with a surgeon in the coming days.
“Pearce has had a scan – he’s gone back to the Gold Coast and we’ve met this morning with the medical team as well and had some further discussion around the results of the scan,” Jon Haines, the club’s general manager of football operations, told their official website.
“It’s not a great result for Pearce, but in that context, we’ll be meeting with the surgeon in the next few days to assess our options.
“But surgery is looking as the likely option at this point in time.”
Haines hinted that Hanley may be assisting the club’s coaching stuff during his rehabilitation.
“Pearce has probably got one of the best ‘feel for the game’ out of the whole playing group, so he’s got a real interest in what’s happening from a coaching perspective.
“I’m sure once he’s through that surgical period and once he actually enters into his rehab, we’ll certainly be tapping into his knowledge of the game,
“And certainly we’re expecting him, as a member of the leadership group, to play an integral role for the rest of the team throughout the course of the year.”
Hanley is one of the longest-serving Irish players in the AFL since first joining the Brisbane Lions as a rookie pick in 2008 and then being upgraded to the senior list the following year.
The Ballaghaderreen man moved to link up with their Queensland rivals Gold Coast Suns in October 2016.
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