EAGLEHAWK star Kain Robins will have surgery on his injured elbow next week, with the club hopeful he will return to the field before the Bendigo Bank Bendigo Football League finals.
Robins tore the ligament off the bone in his elbow during the Hawks’ 33-point win over Gisborne at Canterbury Park on June 12.
The 2006 Michelsen medallist – who this year returned to the Hawks after a stint with WAFL club Peel Thunder – has been told he will be out for at least eight weeks.
“I’ll get to the eight-week mark and see how it feels, but it will definitely be eight weeks,’’ Robins said yesterday.
“I’ve probably only missed one game over the past five or six years, so something like this is shattering.
“Now I’ve just got to look at it as, hopefully, we can cement that top-three spot and I can come back in and, hopefully, have an impact.
“Injury is part of footy and you’ve just got to take the good with the bad.’’
The versatile Robins is having a solid season for the Hawks, who sit third on the ladder after 10 rounds with their 8-2 record.
He has polled 12 votes in the Bendigo Advertiser-ASM Player of the Year Award, all of which he received in the first three rounds.
Eaglehawk coach Derrick Filo said that although disappointed Robins will be sidelined for such an extended period, he’s hopeful of an upside for his team.
“He’s obviously one of the best players in the competition, and you certainly don’t want to lose him, but it is what it is,’’ Filo said.
“The one thing that can happen with situations like this though is that it can give opportunities to others.
“We’ve got a few players there who we’re looking at that we haven’t really been able to give an opportunity to yet.
“So that’s the one bonus that comes out of something like this.
“And to a certain degree, you probably get reliant on a player like that.
“We’ve just got to move on as best we can and look at any positives we can get out of it ... if we can get him back for finals, but someone else has stepped up to the plate in the meantime, then there’s the advantage.’’
After a break for the split round last week, the Hawks continue their season this Saturday against Strathfieldsaye at Tannery Lane in round 11.
Robins isn’t the only BFL Michelsen medallist who has been struck down by injury.
Gisborne’s Luke Saunders, who won the medal a year earlier than Robins in 2005, is facing a six-week stint on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury in the Bulldogs’ loss to the Hawks.
It’s a bitter blow for Gisborne, which is already lacking experienced players.
Saunders is Gisborne’s leading goalkicker this season with 22, with the Bulldogs’ next best being Darren Farrugia with 13.
“Luke is our key player, so to try to cover him becomes very difficult,’’ Gisborne coach Ty Elliott said.
“But this creates another opportunity for someone and we have to try to reinvent other avenues to goal.’’
Gisborne, sitting eighth, will travel to Dower Park to take on Kangaroo Flat this Saturday.
This weekend’s match of the round will be the clash at the Queen Elizabeth Oval between the top two teams – Golden
Square (10-0) and South Bendigo (9-1).
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