Albion’s bid to stop arch-rivals Court House winning three straight premierships has been dealt a “massive” blow, with the news allrounder and captain Andy Mack will miss the season through injury.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mack tore his ACL in Gunnedah’s AFL North West preliminary final win over the Nomads on September 1.
His brother James, a top-order Albion batsman, revealed the news ahead of Albion’s season-opener, a one-day clash against Mornington at Wolseley Park on Saturday.
Fast bowler Brad Jenkinson will skipper the side in Mack’s absence.
The loss of Mack for the season is also a blow to the Gunnedah rep side, who shocked Tamworth in the War Veterans Cup final last season.
“So that’s a massive one [injury loss] for us,” James Mack said, adding that while his brother was yet to speak to a surgeon, “it doesn’t look sort of good, even for footy next year, so definitely cricket’s out”.
In the other clash on Saturday, Court House and Kookaburras meet at Kitchener Park.
Mack, back for a second season as Gunnedah District Cricket Association secretary, said it appeared that all four sides had suffered player losses in the off-season.
He said “every club’s just battling a little bit in one way, shape or form”.
“That could be a good thing to get a bit more of a level playing field, but we’ll see what happens,” he said
“But all the other clubs are sort of in the same boat, I think,” he said, adding: “We’ve [Albion] lost a fair few guys but we’ve still got the nucleus of a good side, in firsts and seconds.
READ ALSO:
“We just probably need to get a few guys that are sort of playing a game here and there, just to commit for the whole year, if we can, or pick up a couple.”
Mack added that Albion “should be fine”.
