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INJURY has cruelly cost Strathfieldsaye teenager Bailey Henderson the chance of playing in his first senior grand final.
Henderson suffered a fracture in his shoulder socket in a tackle during the Storm’s BFNL preliminary final win over Sandhurst last weekend.
The classy 18-year-old, who is on the Bendigo Pioneers’ list, watched on at training on Thursday night with his left arm in a sling as the Storm rounded out their preparations at Tannery Lane ahead of Saturday’s grand final against Eaglehawk at the QEO.
“I’m obviously shattered, but we’ve got guys ready to come into the side and play a role for us,” Henderson said.
“From a team perspective we’ll be fine, but on a personal note it’s a bit disappointing… unfortunately, it’s just one of those things.”
Henderson says he has known since he had scans on Tuesday that he would be an omission from the Storm’s grand final side.
“Since then I’ve been trying to get around the group as much as I can,” Henderson said.
“Hopefully, other (grand final) opportunities arise in the future, but it’s one of those things I can’t control and I’ve just got to take it as is and do everything I can to heal it and be back next year.”
Henderson is still awaiting the results of an MRI he had on Wednesday that will determine his next course of action in healing his injured shoulder and whether surgery will be required.
The omission of Henderson has opened the door for tall Ben Lester to return to the Strathfieldsaye side.
Lester is one of 13 members of last year’s Strathfieldsaye premiership team that will be playing in Saturday’s shot at back-to-back flags.
Meanwhile, Eaglehawk has kept the Storm guessing on the make-up of its final 22 after the Hawks named an extended squad of 25 players on Thursday night.
The Hawks added veteran forward Matt Gretgrix, ruckman Jack Lawton and Dylan Hanley into their grand final squad.
The Hawks named no outs.
If Gretgrix – a two-time Hawks’ premiership player – is to line up, it will be his first game since injuring a medial on June 30.
The key injury concern for the Hawks leading into the grand final is athletic ruckman Jonty Neaves (elbow).
Neaves had his elbow heavily strapped, but trained at Canterbury Park on Thursday night.
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