It’s the second time in as many months; in January he had his right achilles repaired but now, it’s his left that needs attention.
“My right side is feeling terrific and the procedure was successful but I’ve had some soreness in the left one over the past few days and it needs the same sort of treatment,” McIntosh told kangaroos.com.au exclusively.
The setback puts a round one appearance almost out of the equation, but coach Brad Scott isn’t prepared to rule him out just yet.
“Look we’d love to have Hamish for round one but at this stage that’s going to be an uphill battle for him.”
North Chief of Football Donald McDonald broke the news to members and supporters on Tuesday.
“… unfortunately as he’s started to get back into full training with his right (achilles), it’s become apparent that his left achilles has got a similar type problem to the right.
“We are going to put him in for surgery probably tomorrow. Once he has that surgery, then we’ll get a really good feel for what sort of time frame it’s going to take for him to get back playing again."
McDonald says the club will be in a better position to comment on an expected comeback after the minor surgery is completed.
“We don’t want to put an actual timeframe in terms of how many games is he going to miss. First thing we want to do is just get the operation completed. Once we get the operation completed, we’ll have a really good understanding of the sort of injury we’re dealing with.
“If it’s similar to the first one, it’s going to be a three or four week recovery period and then as to how long it takes for him to get himself fit…we don’t want to really make any guesstimates on that until we get the surgery done first and foremost.”
One thing is for sure, McIntosh will miss the opportunity to play on his home ground during Saturday night’s NAB Challenge match in Lavington, New South Wales.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play for North at my junior club the Lavington Panthers,” McIntosh said.
“It’s such a great club and I have some great memories. I’m shattered to miss but I’m sure the boys will put on a good show for the locals.
“I started in the Lavington little league right up until I got drafted when I was 18 …so I worked my way up, right from the bottom for about 13 years or so.”
And McIntosh claims there were some standout performances too.
“I don’t want to brag but I kicked nine on debut for the Lavington seniors when I was 16 playing at full forward…mind you we beat Albury Tigers by about 130 on that day.
“I’d like to think that we wouldn’t have gotten over the line without my nine goals,” he joked.
“Jack Ziebell is trying to claim Lavington as his home turf but everyone knows he is a Wodonga boy and from the wrong side of the river.”
