Essendon coach Brad Scott has opened up about his team's "perfect storm" of injuries, saying he won't guilt or shame any of his players into staying at the AFL club.
The 13th-placed Bombers (6-9) are set to conduct a review into their high-performance unit following a disastrous run on the injury front this year.
While some of the club's long-term injuries have been down to bad luck, the soft-tissue setbacks will be put under the microscope.
Kyle Langford (quad, four-six weeks), Darcy Parish (calf, TBC) and Zach Reid (hamstring, season) are among the club's stars currently sidelined with soft-tissue injuries, with Mason Redman (hamstring) a chance to return for Saturday's clash with Richmond.
Others such as Sam Draper (achilles, season), Nick Bryan (ACL, season), Lewis Hayes (ACL, season), Thomas Edwards (ACL, season), Nik Cox (concussion, season), Jye Caldwell (syndesmosis, six-eight weeks), Ben McKay (foot) and Harrison Jones (ankle) fall into the "unlucky'' pile.
"The injuries you probably get frustrated with as a player, as a coach and as a club are what we categorise as preventable or controllable," Scott said on Wednesday.
"Recurrence of injury particularly fits into that category, but we've got a bit of a perfect storm at the moment.
"You can't lay blame at anyone's feet for Jye Caldwell being taken forward in a tackle and rupturing his syndesmosis.
"The same with our ACLs that were non-contact essentially, and Sam Draper's ruptured achilles.
"You put (those) into the disappointing but unlucky category."
Essendon's injury crisis could potentially lead to disgruntled players leaving the club.
Draper is an unrestricted free agent and is weighing up a move away from Essendon, but most of the club's other stars are already under contract.
"I think players have to always think about what's best for their career, particularly as you get to the latter stages of your career," Scott said.
"My attitude has always been, when it comes to free agents, for example, I don't overly coerce.
"I certainly don't try to guilt or shame players into staying under some sort of guise of loyalty.
"We want to hold up our end of the bargain and want to create a vision and environment where they want to be.
"We also commit to players and contract players. When you commit and are contracted, I think discussions about players assessing their future are a bit of a moot point."
He says he feels for his injured players, and understands why some of them might be feeling frustration.
"It's pretty dark mental places when you get injured, particularly if you have a recurrence of an injury," Scott said.
"Injuries occur, and there is frustration around that.
"I can assure you that there is no one more frustrated than me, even though Darcy and Lang we have the debate who is more frustrated.
"It's something we are doing a power of work on.
"We've got to create an environment where our players feel like they're getting the best chance to be the best they can be, and the club has its best chance of success."
