SYDNEY coach Dean Cox is hopeful luckless forward Logan McDonald will return from his second surgery in time to play this season.
Having already recovered from an ankle operation, McDonald is set to go under the knife again after suffering a stress fracture in his fibula.
It was the same injury that ultimately forced his substitution halfway through the Grand Final loss to Brisbane.
Kicking three goals in his return game against North Melbourne’s reserve side, McDonald reported soreness after his second match, with subsequent scans showing a stress reaction.
He remains sidelined indefinitely, though Cox won’t rule McDonald completely out.
“You’re always hopeful,” Cox said on Thursday.
“Once a surgeon goes in there and looks at exactly what’s wrong and fixes what he has to and then gives you a time frame, we’ll put a little bit more perspective into it, so hopefully it’s not a long one.
“But as soon as you’re having surgery, it’s not a two or four-week injury, so we’ve got to support Logan.
“It’s the best thing for him to get back playing his best football, so that’s the sole focus of the surgery and why we’re going down that path.”
“One thing we’ve learnt over the period is that if you plan exact dates of when they’re coming back, it becomes really tough,” Cox said.
“We just try and look at, every week, what he does – how much has he done? What does he need to improve on?’ And we’ll do the same again.
“He trained twice last week. He’ll train again today and over the weekend.”
Callum Mills at Sydney training at the SCG on April 23, 2025. Picture: Getty Images/AFL Photos
Sydney (3-5) is at least set to welcome back midfielder Taylor Adams from a hamstring injury.
But Adams, who featured in Opening Round before his setback, could play in the VFL, instead of lining up against Essendon at the MCG.
“We opted not to play VFL for him last week in a restricted time frame,” Cox said.
“He’ll get through training today and then be available, whether that’s with us or he needs one VFL game.
“He’s spent a fair bit of time out, so we’ll assess and talk about that.
