Melbourne veteran Jack Viney is yet to resume running as doubt grows over whether he will play again this season. The 32-year-old dual Demons best-and-fairest winner has been sidelined with complex achilles and back issues, with no clear timeline for his return.
Viney's Injury Struggles
Viney, who last played in round 24 of the 2024 season, described his injuries as "complex" and admitted the recovery process has been frustrating. "There's no timeline on it," Viney said on Tuesday at the launch of Melbourne's kids round. "It's really a half hard one to say because I'm not back running yet, and obviously there's a fair bit of strength and conditioning that's got to go when I'm back running. Once that happens, we'll get a closer idea of how close I am to returning."
A Different Recovery Journey
The Demons vice-captain, who has played 237 AFL games, noted that his previous injuries were more straightforward. "I'm no stranger to injury, but they've been more of your broken bones, or ankle scopes, which once you have it done, it's a pretty clear and linear recovery back," he said. "Doing an ACL or ruptured achilles is certainly a challenging injury, but you've got 12 months of rehab, whereas my process has been you don't know how long you've got."
Melbourne's Resurgence
Despite his absence, Viney has been inspired by Melbourne's charge into sixth on the ladder after missing finals the past two years. Under new coach Steven King, the Demons have been one of the success stories of the season, bouncing back after sacking premiership coach Simon Goodwin. Viney referenced pre-season predictions that Melbourne would start 0-6 and finish near the bottom. "I don't want to point anyone out, but I'm pretty sure there's a few people in the media who said we would be 0-6 to start the year, and we'd be probably bottom the ladder," Viney said. "We've certainly proven a few people wrong. We've always had full confidence in the talent and the people we had at the football club. We've still got a long way to go in establishing what our brand of our football is, but to be where we are is a pretty good success at this point of year."
Upcoming Match
Coming off a stunning demolition of third-placed Hawthorn in Launceston, Melbourne face battling Richmond at the MCG this Sunday. The Demons will look to continue their strong form as they push for a finals berth that seemed unlikely at the start of the season.
