Ganmain premiership players to miss most of 2023 season

Phoebe Quinn and Meg Jolley with miss most, if not all, of the 2023 season after sustaining a separated AC joint and broken finger respectively.

Coach Luke Walsh said it was devastating to know they'd lost the girls so close to the beginning of the season.

Quinn, who is waiting to hear if her shoulder requires surgery, sustained the injury during a trial game against East Wagga-Kooringal on Tuesday evening.

"I think it's just an awkward tackle, it just went a bit wrong and she just got her arm in the wrong place and their body weights came down on top of her," Walsh said.

"It's part of footy unfortunately but that doesn't make it any easier when it happens."

Quinn is a key defender for the side and works with autonomy in the Lion's back line.

Walsh said her absence will be felt.

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"She's a defensive weapon for us, coming out of the back line she plays a deeper role and we just back her into make a judgement call on when she can leave her opponent and get up the field to to impact the contest," Walsh said.

Coming from a soccer background, Quinn has picked up the game superbly during her two years at Ganmian.

Walsh said she's become more comfortable with the ball now and has begun to play well on instinct.

"We can't really replace her, we've got good defenders and people that can fill that role, but it's going to be hard to replace Phoebe," he said.

With hope it may only be a six week injury, Walsh has fingers crossed she may re-enter the side before finals.

Also out of action is forward Meg Jolley, who broke her finger in a marking contest during an intra-club match last week.

"She probably won't play again this year for any of the season," Walsh said.

"That'll mean we have to shake things up in the forward line, we've still got Skye (Hamblin), so we've got a good target up there but we might have to play a bit of a smaller forward line, and I'll make some tweaks there."

Despite the disappointing absences, Walsh said he's pleased with how his side is coming together ahead of round one next week and he's glad they've had the chance to experience game play.

"Apart from the injuries, everything is looking pretty good," Walsh said.

"I was happy with how they played last night (Tuesday) and with the preparation their putting in, so I think they're probably as ready as they can be to start the competition and hopefully they'll just keep improving each week."

GGGM will begin their 2023 campaign with a home game against Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes on Friday, February 3.

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