NORTH Melbourne skipper Jack Ziebell will miss up to two months with a knee injury, but could strangely still be in the mix for round two after the AFL season was suspended due to the global COVID-19 outbreak.
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Ziebell suffered a high-grade medial strain in the third quarter of the club's brave victory over St Kilda on Sunday, with scans revealing that the hard-nosed midfielder will miss the next 6-8 weeks.
However, with football suspended until May 31 at the earliest due to the threat of the COVID-19 virus, it means Ziebell could still be in contention to play in the next round of fixtures when the season is ultimately resumed.
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"The knee's actually feeling quite good," Ziebell told the club's website.
"I haven't had too much pain, thankfully.
"I just remember being on the ground with my leg out and someone falling across my leg. I straight away felt pain on the inside.
"I've never done one before, but I know a few blokes that have and just thought medial straightaway.
"I got a scan Monday and it revealed exactly what the doctors thought, which was a high-grade medial strain and probably miss six-to-eight weeks.
"It's not ideal, but if there was a time to be injured it's probably now."
Ziebell had already endured an injury-plagued summer, dealing with a calf setback that had initially threatened his chances of featuring in round one.