There is uncertainty surrounding Jamie Elliott’s football future as he struggles with a vascular issue in his foot.
The Collingwood forward has been sidelined since Round 8 with a foot injury, which was later identified as a vascular problem. Currently, there is no set return date amid a series of injuries affecting the reigning premiers.
Tom Morris of Channel 9 first reported on Footy Furnace that “the narrative has changed” with Elliott, noting that those close to the 31-year-old are “doubtful” about his ability to return to play, not just in the short to medium term, but possibly ever again.
Morris expanded on Elliott’s situation on SEN radio, stating, “No one can really say when Jamie Elliott will be back from the vascular issue. It could be career-threatening. No one can tell me when he’s going to be back … this (injury) started as two to four weeks, according to Collingwood, now it’s TBC.”
Morris highlighted two main concerns: “One is when he is going to be fit to play. And two, does he have the will to get back and desperately want to play again.”
Elliott, who has scored 14 goals from eight games, ranking third at Collingwood in 2024, is contracted until the end of next season.
Former Magpies coach Nathan Buckley offered further insights into the severity of Jamie Elliott’s vascular issue.
“The only thing I know about his injury is that he was coming off for a couple of weeks midway through a second quarter and couldn’t feel his foot,” Buckley said on SEN. “He’d take his boot off and it [his foot] was black. That’s a concern, you know something’s not right. They were able to find the vascular issue, which is basically blood flow into and out of his foot.”
Elliott has overcome several injury setbacks throughout his career and played a career-high 24 games, scoring a personal best 39 goals during Collingwood’s premiership-winning 2023 campaign.
“He has had long-term injuries at different stages of his career and he’s withstood a great deal, he’s gone through that and become a premiership player. He missed seasons on end at times at different stages,” Buckley added. “He’s been here before and he’s dug himself out of it.
That would be the only concern: ‘Is this something I can dig myself out of?’. Only time will tell with that, they need a bit more time than they’ve had.”
