Brent Tuckey faces a race against time to be a part of Diggers Rest’s Riddell District Football League finals campaign.
The gun forward hasn’t played for the Burras since round two when he injured an elbow.
Diggers Rest coach Shaun Sims is unsure whether Tuckey will be back this year.
“He had surgery about nine or 10 weeks ago and now he’s got the cast off,” Sims said. “He can start load-bearing stuff … it will just come down to how that responds.
“We don’t have an exact answer as to whether he will get back in time. I honestly don’t know.
“I’m hopeful we will see him back out there playing before finals.”
Tuckey has played two home and away games for the Burras this season and will need to play another two in order to qualify for finals.
His latest possible return date is round 17 when Diggers Rest take on Melton Centrals.
Tuckey kicked 90 goals from 15 matches for Diggers Rest last season and booted six goals this year before the injury.
Having been without his star forward for most of the season, Sims believes his side has enough versatility to continue covering the loss throughout finals.
“We have tried a few different forward set-ups throughout the year,” he said.
“The majority of guys have moved around and played different positions.
“That was a conscious effort from me because I thought that versatility would help us when we came to the end of the year.”
In good news for Diggers Rest, Sims confirmed that, barring injury, mid-season recruit and former West Coast Eagle Callum Wilson would qualify for finals.
In his two games for the Burras this season, Wilson has kicked four goals.
“He will definitely be playing finals barring injury,” Sims said.
“That’s obviously a great acquisition for our club, to have a guy who has come through a quality AFL system.”
