After reading this thread and a similar ones on other forums, I made a couple of calls and I believe that I got to the crux of the matter. I reckon my source is pretty close to the mark.
Carlos has a similar affliction to Ross River Fever which wasn't detected till mid December. He spent time with his family over Xmas with the aim to fatten him up somewhat, but couldn't keep his food down. He then came back early to visit the nutritionilist and to seek specialist advice because the Irish doctors have little or no experience in tropical diseases. He was diagnosed and put on a strict diet and a modified program to try and retain his muscle ratio, even though he didn't have skinfold problems.
Unfortunately he had already lost about 16 kgs when they nutted out what he has. He has since put about 5 kgs back on but has been further setback by straining a minor ligament in his shoulder, which stopped him doing contesting work at training. Although under his playing weight and still suffering from the shoulder strain, he had a short run in the South Africa match to test him out. Unfortunately he fatigued very quickly and it was thought best to nurse him through the rest of the preseason until he gets his strength back.
His shoulder apparently is about 80% now but he is expected to be about 3 weeks getting back to a reasonable level of fitness. He will probably need a couple of runs in the magoos before they would risk him anyway.
On the subject of whether he is rated by the Coaching staff and particularly Ratts, my contact fell about laughing when I enquired. His exact words to me were "We are so undersized down back and lack mongrel and genuine rebounders, Santy is no longer seen as a project, but one of our key defenders. Ratts wanted to try him out in a couple of roles last year to fast track his education. As soon as he is up to speed he will come straight in because he is so flexible. The Cocka just loves his passion and wishes some of it would rub off on on some of the laconic flowers we got on the list"
I then asked about possible conflicts between the Carlton coaches and the Bullants coaching panel. All he would say is that they are still working through the pieces of the relationship, but he assured me that Preston will do as they are told, cause we are paying their way. Certain players will be played in the role that Ratts wants them played in.
We'll all have to wait and see, but I am heartened by this news as I rate Santy very highly.
BTW, a quick report on the other injuries: Zacky a medial strain - 3-4 weeks off full training. AB still has groin pain. He can run but squatting and bending over is a problem. Thinks 2-3 . Benji a Quad strain - 2-3 as well. Didn't know what was wrong with Joey.
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