Essendon rookie Tom Hird has been ruled out indefinitely by the club with a serious foot injury.
Scans confirmed the 19-year-old son of club legend James reportedly suffered a season-ending stress fracture in his left foot.
The navicular stress fracture is viewed as a season-ending injury. The teenager had been experiencing pain for an extended period before the club made the announcement.
"Tom will rest his foot for the next period and we will continue to monitor his progress but it will be a longer-term injury," Essendon General Manager Dan Richardson said in a statement.
"It's a disappointing setback for Tom after his start with the club in recent months, and with the nature of navicular injuries, we will continue to take full caution approaching Tom's rehabilitation over the coming weeks."
Hird signed on with Essendon as a Category B rookie in March but is yet to make his AFL debut. He recently represented Port Melbourne in Victoria's NPL competition.
The younger Hird's decision to join the Bombers "shocked" his father considering he left behind an accomplished soccer career.
"I think (Tom's mother) Tania and I were both pretty shocked actually that he chose to go down this path," James Hird told the Working Through It podcast in April.
"He'd been going very well in his soccer, both here and overseas so we were a bit taken aback that he wanted to go down that path but he and (Essendon recruiting manager) Adrian Dodoro must have been concocting some plan without us knowing.
"Obviously now he's down that path, we're fully supportive and he's training very hard."
The former Bombers coach also experienced stress fractures in his foot during his AFL career.
Hird senior is a legend of the club and played 253 AFL games for the Bombers from 1992 to 2007.
In that time he won two premierships, a Brownlow Medal and five All-Australian nods. He also was fired as coach over the supplements scandal that engulfed the club.
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/afl-news-essendon-rookie-tom-hird-ruled-out-indefinitely/c8a3b73b-06b0-4664-9366-67f2ef1afb88
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