The young Saints ruckman has been ruled out of the rest of the AFL season with knee tendonitis.
St. Kilda ruckman Tom Hickey has been ruled out of the rest of the AFL season with knee tendonitis.
The 23-year-old former Gold Coast Suns player managed just six games this season due to quad and foot injuries, playing just one game since April.
“Tom has been experiencing knee tendonitis for some time and will be assessed by a specialist in coming weeks, but he won’t play again in 2014,” St Kilda Head of Football Chris Pelchen told the club’s website.
Hickey said the injury was an on-going one, but was hopeful he could now fully recover from the injury in time for the Saints’ pre-season.
“You’re always a little flat when you find out your year is over. It gives me an opportunity to really attack the 2015 pre-season. I didn’t want to try to sneak two games in at the end of this year in case I jeopardised next year,” Hickey said told the club’s website.
“It’s been an on-going issue for a couple of years and I’ve just managed it. This year it’s just gotten worse so I could probably play on but I haven’t been able to jump or run very well lately.”
Hickey has become the Saints’ number one ruckman after the off-season trade of Ben McEvoy to to Hawthorn and started the season impressively.
His best performance came in round two, where he booted three first half goals and racked up 19 possessions in a hard-fought win over the Giants at Etihad Stadium.
Since then however, injuries have hampered his season, leaving the ruckman frustrated.
“Expectation vs reality – I didn’t really meet the standards I set myself. But I think I proved to myself earlier in the year that I could hold down a number one ruck spot,” he said.
“It’s given me good belief that if given the opportunity, I can lead the rucks again next season.”
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