Essendon defender has ‘fight ahead of him’ following hospital stint

Essendon defender Michael Hurley is unlikely to play for the Bombers any time soon, with new footy boss Josh Mahoney conceding the veteran defender has a “bit of a fight” on his hands to recover from an infection.

Hurley was spotted on crutches and looking gaunt at the club’s practice hit-out against Carlton on Thursday.

“Being bedridden now for three or four weeks certainly pushes him back … he’s struggling to get around, he’s on crutches and he’s lost quite a bit of weight,” Mahoney told 3AW.

“It was a good spirit lifter for the guys to see him at the game, he was desperate to come because he just wants to be involved, which is part of the character I’ve seen already in Hurls.

“He’s got a bit of a fight ahead of him, the main thing is just getting him back to being healthy and then we can worry about building him up to play games of footy again.”

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Picture: Twitter / @AliciaMuling9