“Max managed to bend the steel plate in his collarbone; the surgeon said he’s never seen it before,” Steve Saunders Director of Medical Services told NMFC.com.au.
“Unfortunately we won’t play him again this year but he’ll be all fine for Utah. That’s part of the reason we wanted to send him in (for surgery) straight away.”
Warren played for North Ballarat just two weeks ago but it wasn’t a happy ending for the young rookie.
“He’s a tough little feller Maxy, he was able to play on with it and just felt a bit sore after the game.
“He doesn’t actually remember one contact in the game being more severe than the others, but he made a few very heavy contacts throughout the course of the game, he was quite swollen the next day and then x-rays showed what happened to the metal.”
Saunders is confident corrective surgery will prevent any further mishaps.
“He followed all the surgeon’s recommendations last time, he didn’t play too early and he followed the set protocol.
“The surgeon hasn’t seen this particular thing before so it’s a first, but going forward he’ll be fine and it won’t limit him at all.”
The 20-year old has been desperate to make his mark and the recent bad news has been tough to digest.
“He’s really disappointed because he just wants to play; he was playing really good football, making great progress. But he understands why we’ve got to make sure he’s structurally sound and set up to take on next year.”
