Adelaide Crows to be without their skipper for most of the AFL season.
The Adelaide Crows will be forced into a re-shuffle for its pre-season and regular season with news captain Nathan van Berlo will be out injured for at least three months.
The 27-year-old suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during a speed training drill, and was quickly rushed into surgery to repair the damage, in the hope he might play at some point this year.
“Nathan suffered an injury to his right achilles tendon at training today,” club doctor Andrew Potter said.
“At exploratory surgery, the achilles tendon was found to be completely ruptured and has been surgically repaired.
“The recovery time for the injury will be at least three months.”
List manager David Noble said van Berlo had been tearing up the track and it was a blow for the club.
“It’s an unfortunate setback for Nathan, but he’s an extremely professional athlete and we know he’ll leave no stone unturned in his recovery,” Noble said.
“We’ll work with Nathan to ensure he’s back on the park as soon as possible.”
Van Berlo has played 182 games in nine seasons for Adelaide and has been captain since 2011.
Attention will now turn to who will captain the Crows this year, with Patrick Dangerfield an obvious favourite,
Veteran Scott Thompson was Van Berlo’s vice-captain last season with star midfielder Dangerfield deputy vice-captain.
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