Highly rated key defender Hugh Goddard endured a challenging second year at St Kilda, with a ruptured Achilles tendon ending his season midway through his only senior appearance of 2016.
The 20-year-old's campaign got off on the wrong note early when he suffered heat exhaustion during the Saints’ pre-season training camp on the Sunshine Coast.
After playing the final eight games of last season, Goddard was forced to bide his time in the VFL before earning another opportunity at AFL level in Round 11.
In a cruel blow, Goddard’s return to senior football ended swiftly on Adelaide Oval when his foot crumbled underneath him when he changed direction following Crows power forward Josh Jenkins on the lead.
The 2014 first-round pick, who is considered a key piece of St Kilda’s long-term puzzle, is expected to make a full recovery by the start of the 2017 season.
Alan Richardson’s Views:
“It was quite a frustrating and challenging year for Hugh after a really positive start to his career in 2015. He had some physical challenges in the pre-season and that put him behind the eight ball a little bit. He worked hard in the VFL to continue to adapt to the way that we defend and unfortunately when he got his chance he got injured. All the way through he’s a pro for a young bloke; his commitment to his footy, his teammates and his footy club is first class; he’s going to be a really important player for us in the future.
“Like Hugh does, he doesn’t take long to dwell on the negatives, he moves on pretty quick and focuses on what he can do. In fact, within two or three days afterwards her brought in his preparation book and sat down with Danny Frawley and Rohan Welsh to work out what he can work on and improve on whilst he was unable to run and how he can look at vision and learn from the better defenders in the game.
“So that’s what he’s like, that’s the sort of person he is; he won’t leave any stone unturned in his rehabilitation. So he’ll be right to go at the start of next season. The plan is he’ll be right to go for Round 1. He’ll be fairly pedestrian for a while, but he’ll ramp that up as he progresses through his rehab.”
The Numbers:
AFL
1 game
VFL
5 games
12.4 disposals
5.2 marks
3.0 tackles
