Injury List

Injury Update Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Player	Injury	Status	Round 3 COLLINGWOOD v ST KILDA Saturday April 9, 1:45pm  MCG Fox Footy 1:30pm Weather: Min 11 Max 20 Chance of rain 20%: < 1mm Wind: SSW 20kph Betting: Collingwood $1.42 St Kilda $2.80
Tim Broomhead	Shoulder	Test
Jamie Elliott	Back	Indefinite
Matt Scharenberg*	Knee	Season
Steele Sidebottom	Suspended	Available round 4
Dane Swan	Broken leg/foot	Season
Travis Varcoe	Hamstring	Test
Jarrod Witts	Split webbing	Test
Darrean Wyatt	Concussion	Test
* Placed on the club's long-term injury list

Dane Swan Dane Swan will have surgery on Wednesday to repair the breaks in his foot and leg suffered in Collingwood's round one clash with Sydney. Director of Football Neil Balme confirmed on Monday that the midfielder is ready to go under the knife. "He'll have his surgery on Wednesday," Balme told Collingwood Media's 'Blackmores Injury Update'. "He's been couch-bound, so he'll be very keen to get an answer on that. Let's hope it goes very well." Conjecture remains on whether Swan will return to the field in 2016, with Wednesday's surgery expected to lead to months of recovery. "We'll let you know what happens with that," Balme said. While the 2011 Brownlow Medallist will be out of action long term, Balme offered better news for recovering due Jarrod Wittsand Tim Broomhead. Both are on-track to return this weekend and will undergo fitness tests later in the week. "Jarrod Witts has recovered pretty well from that split webbing in his hand. We expect him to play this weekend," Balme said. "Tim Broomhead has similar good news. He's feeling much stronger in the shoulder and we expect him to get up and play this weekend as well." Travis Varcoe however will enter a race against time to prove his fitness ahead of round three. "I think he's just going to come a day or two short," explained Balme. "He's pretty good and there's a chance that he might play. "But I think it's more likely that we'll wait until the weekend after to make sure that hamstring is fully repaired." After a nightmare round one, Collingwood escaped round two with not only a victory, but a clean bill of health on the injury front. Only recruit Darrean Wyatt has been added to the injury list, with the ruckman sustaining concussion in the VFL at Simonds Stadium on Saturday afternoon. "He'll need a test this week to get through," Balme said. "Concussion is obviously taken very seriously and I hope he gets up, but there's no certainly." Conjecture remains on whether Swan will return to the field in 2016, with Wednesday's surgery expected to lead to months of recovery.

Jamie Elliott  Collingwood will continue to take a patient approach with small Jamie Elliott as the small forward continues his recovery from a back injury. Elliott was back out on the track and running repeat sprints on Tuesday, but the Magpies are still being extremely cautious with his return to the field. Magpies coach Nathan Buckley said it was still difficult to pinpoint a definitive return date for the small forward. Elliott has been battling an ongoing back condition, known as pars defect, and the club chose to take him out of training in late February to allow it time to heal. "We still think he's going to need another week or two of running and probably another two or three weeks of conditioning on top of that," Buckley said on Tuesday. "We think the long-term (prognosis) would have him [out for] 6-8 weeks but it could be 4-12. We won't see him in the next month, he's still got a lot of work to do to get back up to speed. "He would need to jump every hurdle between now and then without a hiccup and we can't guarantee that, given the nature of his injury." However, Buckley said there had been improvements in Elliott's recovery from the injury. "He had a good session today and his progress over the last two weeks has been good," Buckley said. "It's really hard to put a number on it. If Jamie has a bad day or a bad session, it might set him back a week or two. "If he has a couple of good ones in a row it might pull it forward a week or two." Meanwhile, hard-running defender Travis Varcoe will not be considered for selection for Saturday's game against St Kilda as he works his way back from a hamstring injury suffered on the eve of the season. Varcoe is still another week away from playing and did plenty of conditioning work outside the main training group on Tuesday. High-flying forward Jeremy Howe will be in the mix to make his debut for his new club after making the move from Melbourne in the off-season. The Magpies are 14th on the ladder after two rounds of the season, and Buckley did not hold back when asked about the level his side had been operating at. "We've probably been a 5 or 6 out of 10 over the first two weeks and we want to see our minimums at a seven and our best performances at 9s and 10s," Buckley said.