You won’t hear Rodney Eade and the football department inside Metricon Stadium use injuries as an excuse for performance, but when you delve a little deeper, you truly appreciate their significance this season.



The absence of Gary Ablett has been pulled apart by every football analyst and media outlet in the country, with his right shoulder being the most talked about piece of anatomy in Australian sport.



But whilst the little master has generated discussion for obvious reasons, the knee injuries suffered by Jaeger O’Meara, David Swallow and Dion Prestia have not attracted the recognition that there significance deserves.



The star-studded trio are the future of the Gold Coast SUNS. Not only have they established themselves as bona fide elite footballers, but they are also major drawcards for fans in a non-traditional AFL heartland.



After 15 rounds, the three players have combined for just 14 appearances with Prestia playing the first eight games before injury struck, Swallow playing four before a ten-week absence and then a further two before reinjuring his knee, and O’Meara not registering a senior appearance.



So given their importance to Eade’s side, their absence has been severely felt. Take the four best midfielders out of any side for an extended period and the effect will be profound. Imagine Sydney without Dan Hannebery, Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and Jarrad McVeigh or Fremantle without Nat Fyfe, David Mundy, Michael Barlow and Lachie Neale. It’s difficult to comprehend.



After undergoing radical surgery in London last October to reduce tendonitis in his knees, O’Meara’s season ceased in the blink of an eye. An opponent dived across his knees in a contest, ending his comeback game and his season in a NEAFL practice match at the beginning of April.



The 2013 Rising Star winner is a vital component of the Gold Coast engine room with his bashful grace seeing him emerge as one of the best young talents in the game during his first two seasons. The rare nature of his injury – a ruptured patella tendon – will mean he has a long road ahead to return to his dominant former self.



Richmond’s Chris Knights is the only player in recent history to have suffered the same injury and he has played just one game in two seasons due to a series of complications with the muscles around his knee.

A torn lateral meniscus in his left knee ended Prestia’s season late in the SUNS round eight fixture against Collingwood. The ball magnet had been a picture of consistency prior to the setback, averaging 28 possessions and a competition leading 9.3 clearances per game across the first seven weeks of the season.

After finishing third and second in the last two club champion counts, Prestia joined an embarrassment of riches in the stands after a rather innocuous incident ended his season. With Ablett, O’Meara and Swallow all sidelined at the time, the SUNS engine room was on its knees. Pardon the pun.



Swallow joined the overflowing abundance of class in the Carrara casualty ward for the second time this season after re-aggravating his posterior cruciate ligament in Saturday night’s loss to the Western Bulldogs.



The reigning best and fairest winner was playing just his second game after suffering the same injury against Greater Western Sydney back in round four. And after producing a strong return effort against North Melbourne, the thought of him not being in the SUNS midfield for the remainder of the year is crushing.



At the beginning of 2015, the new era under Rodney Eade appeared bright. The prospect of playing finals for the first time in the clubs history was realistic given the quality of the list, but the reality is, timing is everything in football, as it is in life.



Injuries have cruelled Eade’s maiden season at the helm of the games 17th franchise. That is a reality not an excuse. The midfield has been decimated by injury to key personnel; there is no other way to look at it other than that. But in their absence, youth has been afforded a luxury that may not have presented itself otherwise.



A silver lining in a bleak season has been the added exposure to the likes of Touk Miller, Alex Sexton and Mitch Hallahan. It is easy to forget that Hallahan had played just six games at the highest level before being lured north from Hawthorn. The inside specialist took time to get going, but since finding consistency and continuity with his body, he has become a reliable contributor.



Swallow and Prestia will be fine to start pre-season close to the beginning, whilst O’Meara will be very carefully managed to ensure his rehabilitation is executed to perfection. It must not be underestimated how significant the injury is that he has suffered. But by this time next year, with a little luck from the football gods, the highly gifted, hardworking trio will be alongside Ablett in a midfield blazing towards a maiden date with September.