OVENS and King ladder leader Milawa is the latest side to have fallen victim to the injury curse, with a host of stars placed on the casualty list in recent weeks.
The club's 2011 best and fairest winner, Scott Gardner, appears set to spend the rest of the season on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of a hernia.
After missing games due to a knee injury earlier in the year, Gardner has endured a horror run in 2012.
"We certainly haven't seen the best of Scott this year," Milawa coach Luke Sims said.
"He's played a number of games under duress, and it's really been up to the players around him to step up and help him out.
"It's looking like he might be out for the year now, which would be a huge loss, but we're working on some plans about how we can cover him."
Full forward Tim Lewis booted a club record 18 goals against Glenrowan in round 12, but pulled up with a sore knee that looks likely to keep him out of action for at least a couple more weeks.
"I'm not sure when he hurt himself it wasn't as if there was a contest and he came off the ground," Sims said.
"He was obviously just feeling a bit off, so he got it checked out and it was diagnosed as a torn medial ligament.
"I think it's only low grade, but it will probably keep him out for a month or so.
"It hurts us, because he's been great this year he's impacted the game against the good sides and kicked big bags against the lower sides."
Scott Pell, Ryan Hussey and Ben Clarke were also missing from the side that defeated Swanpool by 35 points on the weekend.
"Pelly has a PCL (posterior cruciate ligament), which he did around about six weeks ago," Sims said.
"We're not sure how it happened, but he played a couple of games where he clearly wasn't 100 per cent.
"He's a pretty durable guy, and he could probably play through it, but we're not going to take any risks with him.
"Hussey's shoulder popped out in the first quarter against North Wang, so I think he will be out for quite a few weeks.
"And Ben Clarke just got a bad knock above his knee (against Glenrowan).
"It's been diagnosed as a bad cork, but it's a week later and he still can't walk on it.
"His hardness at the ball and his clearance work has been crucial for us this year he would be up with Jack Stamp leading our best and fairest, so he's a big loss."
To add to the misery, Ray Ussher (Achilles) and Nick Coles (calf) were both injured against the Swans.
"I'm not sure about the extent of Ray's injury, but he could still be a chance to play this week," Sims said.
"But Nick hurt his calf in the dying minutes, and we think he may have torn it, so that's another big blow."
Still, Sims is keeping a positive mindset, and is confident of having the majority of his stars back before finals.
Two games clear at the top of the ladder, the Demons have already booked a place in the finals and it would take a disaster for them to slip out of the top four.
"Other sides have been through what we're dealing with now," Sims said.
"We just have to keep doing the hard work regardless of who plays, and try to build a bit of momentum heading into the finals for when we get those blokes back.
"Earlier in the year when we were winning those close games I thought the time would come when they would be worth eight points, and that's now.
"We're not looking to finish the year two games clear on top of the ladder it's just about making the top four."
By - SCOTT ANDERSON.
www.nenews.com.au
INJURY CONCERNS: Milawa midfielder Ben Clarke is struggling to overcome a knock to his knee while teammates Tim Lewis (above right) and Scott Pell (right) could be missing for two or three weeks after sustaining ligament damage to their knees.
Last Modified on 18/07/2012 14:01