Tayla Harris will have scans after re-injuring her left shoulder against Geelong, but Melbourne coach Mick Stinear is adamant the Demons didn’t take any risks with the high-flying forward.
Harris, 27, had left shoulder surgery in December and had the joint heavily strapped in Saturday’s AFLW season opener at GMHBA Stadium.
She required treatment on her already heavily strapped shoulder after an innocuous incident in the first quarter, then again after receiving a strong tackle in the third term.
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Harris was hooked at three-quarter time of the two-point win for what she called “precautionary” reasons, playing down the injury – though it will clearly cast some doubt over her availability for Saturday’s clash with premiers Brisbane at Casey Fields.
“Obviously I’ve had some shoulder issues along the way, and just another little incident, it’s Round 1,” Harris told Channel 7.
“The girls are doing an awesome job, I feel like it’s an opportunity to watch the show. Yeah, today it is (precautionary).”
Stinear confirmed the Demons would send Harris in for scans after the shoulder “flare-up”.
“The two moments of instability throughout the game — I think one early and one in that third quarter,” he told reporters.
“So that was enough to rule her out for the rest of the game and we’ll just look to get some scans tomorrow or Monday and just see where that’s at.
“But she was OK after the game but probably the shoulder injury that occurred a couple of months ago in our pre-season camp, in a training session, it was just another little flare-up of that unfortunately.
“So we’ll learn the extent of that but she seemed to be OK after the game.”
Harris managed her injury, then a quad issue, in pre-season that included a highly scrutinised trip to the Paris Olympics but was cleared for Saturday night’s game.
When asked if the forward was “underdone” and if it was risky playing her, Stinear said: “No, didn’t see any risk playing her.
“I think once we got the all-clear from the quad, she has done a lot of training in pre-season and having that surgery back in December, a really solid few months of rehab and a lot of skills and fundamentals.
“No, I feel like she was ready to play tonight. Probably just some unfortunate moments that she’s had a bit of a flare-up.
“But we’ll review and find out, but very comfortable with her taking the field tonight.”
Geelong’s Rachel Kearns will be assessed after her night ended early due to a chest knock.
– with 7NEWS
