Melbourne have been hit with a cruel injury blow ahead of their premiership defence, with star lock Dale Finucane sidelined for the next six weeks.
The 29-year-old has suffered a high grade ankle tear and is set to miss at least the opening month the of Storm's 2021 campaign.
High grade ankle tear for Dale Finucane rather than the previously reported calf tear. Quite a broad diagnosis, still could be a tear to the muscles around the ankle but more common to tear ligaments as opposed to tendons. If ligaments chances of earlier return โฌ๏ธ (Rd4-5) https://t.co/Wo5gyTJ13d
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) March 3, 2021
While the setback itself will cause frustrations, the reason how it happened may further infuriate Craig Bellamy and Storm fans.
Finucane revealed toย Fox Sportsย that he sustained the injury whilst doing a promotion for one of Melbourne's major sponsors.
โIt was just an unfortunate accident really,โ he said.
โI think we were just doing some passing and tackling. I just sort of took off in one of the drills โ which is something I would have done normally after training with all the extra sort of stuff.
โObviously my calf was tighter than I expected and as I was taking off it just went on me.โ
Finucane was recently appointed co-captain of the club alongside veteran Jesse Bromwich ahead of the club's first season without Cameron Smith as skipper since 2008.
The injury adds further headaches for coach Craig Bellamy, with gun hooker Harry Grant set to miss the opening three rounds of the season due to a high grade MCL strain.
Melbourne are scheduled to face the Rabbitohs, Eels, Panthers and Broncos in the opening month of their upcoming campaign.
