Ulster University are awaiting star forward Ruairi Canavan’s latest assessment results following the concussion he suffered late on in the All-Ireland Club SFC final.
The Errigal Ciaran and Tyrone attacker has not featured yet in UU’s defence of their Sigerson Cup crown but they are hoping that he can play a part in Thursday night’s semi-final against DCU.
“He’s away to get assessed by doctors, he’s doing that ‘Return to Play’ Protocol; he’s got a bit of time done already,” said UU joint-manager Barry Dillon.
“There are different levels [of concussion]; a fortnight would be OK for us, and he seems to be going OK. It’s out of our hands, it’s just about what the medics come back with.
Although Ruairi was not forced off the Croke Park pitch, as his older brother Darragh had been in the first half of that club final on January 19, Dillon does not under-estimate the seriousness of his situation:
“It was still a bad knock, he was dazed, I think it happened at the very end. Very few people saw what happened, must have been a collision.
“He’s done bits and pieces of training himself, he’s feeling OK, but he just has to go through the right channels. He’s not allowed to do any contact. The doctors have been telling him to stick rigidly to that protocol, and rightly so – you don’t take any chance with things like that.”
UU will definitely be without Michael Hamill, who was taken off with an apparent serious knee injury late on during Monaghan’s high-scoring Division Two win over Westmeath at the weekend.
The Emyvale lad had made an impressive impact off the bench in the Sigerson Cup quarter-final win over Maynooth
“He’s a bad loss, stretchered off. He’d have definitely been in the frame for us this week. Three minutes before the end of the game we thought we were getting away unscathed and then that happened. It’s a pity for him and us.”
