BY DAN

Zac Hosking has a calf injury.

I know it’s January and you’re too busy watching tennis or NBA or BBL (the sport, not the national past-time) to care. I know you’re wondering why you would be interested in an injury that will likely be healed by the time round one rolls around. But the Canberra Raiders have interrupted your summer sanguinity with a fresh pile for your smelling pleasure.

OK I’m being a bit dramatic. This likely won’t have a direct impact on team lists for round one. Depending on the grading, the general time off for this is between 1-6 weeks, according to rugby league injury genius, NRL Physio. (Update: from the way Jamal Fogarty is talking, it’s likely the latter). Scanning promised by the Raiders will determine the extent of the injury, but the fact they’re sending him for scans suggests it’s likely to be longer than shorter.

Good thing the Milk are about six weeks from round one then. Even if it is minor, my bet is they Hosking would be held back from at least the first pre-season hit out in early February. That’s usually reserved for fringe players anyway, so that isn’t too much of an issue. His appearance in the second would obviously be determined by rehabilitation. Without anything further from the club I would expect him to be available for round one. So, no great catastrophe then.

In fact it could be a benefit for the Milk. It will allow them to have a proper look at Matty Nicholson through the pre-season, as well as depth options like Simi Sasagi and Noah Martin. That’s good for getting tape on depth against first grade quality players. Martin and Sasagi will both be pushing for first grade opportunities this year, and further into the future. This will be a good opportunity to see how close they are. Hell it might even hasten their progression a little.

It will also be instrumental in determining whether Nicholson is ready for the starting job for round one. Our take has always been that Nicholson would start from the get go. That assumption was a recognition of the talents we’ve observed, the commentary from those who have watched his English career with more intent than us, and the fact that Hosking provides useful flexibility from the bench to a 17 that is usually anything but. Now Nicholson has the opportunity to seal the deal so to speak.

So the injury itself is minor with more silver lining than your favourite spoon. That doesn’t mean it’s without concern. This is Hosking’s second ‘announcable’ injury (third if you count hurting his shoulder twice last year) since becoming a full time starter.

One of those was a contact injury, the other a tear, so it’s way too early to call that anything but a coincidence, but we will be watching his health closely going forward. That could also push the club to the bench utility option to lessen his load. It could also just be a moment in time for us to look back on and say “remember when we were worried about Zac’s durability?”

It’s not ideal but it’s not anything but it shouldn’t ruin your summer. There will be bigger problems and more annoying issues to come. The road is long and this is just a bump.

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