Geelong recruit Jack Steven is recovering from a stab wound to his chest as the Cats resume training this week for the return of AFL on June 11.
Steven arrived at Cabrini hospital in Melbourne about 1am on Sunday with a stab wound that required surgery to repair.
At a press conference yesterday Cats coach Chris Scott said he had spoken to the star former Saint but he declined to shed light on the incident.
“He’s out of hospital and in pretty good spirits,” he said.
“He was the victim of something quite serious but it looks like he will make a quick recovery, so that’s good news, but we are trying to respect his privacy as much as possible.
“We want to care for him and help as much as we possibly can. We certainly don’t want to add to the invasion of his privacy that is already taking place.”
Police are still investigating the incident and Scott said the club would speak to him about it, but “only in so far as we would like to help”.
“I’m not across all the commentary around it, but my sense is that there’s some feel that Jack might have some sort of case to answer here.
“I haven’t seen or heard any information that would imply that.
“I get the feeling that some people want to roll some of the previous [mental health] problems that Jack has had into this current situation and I would caution against that. They’re two separate issues.”
Scott described Steven as a “good fun guy” that the other players had “really warmed to”.
He declined to give a “concrete update” on when he would return to training but suggested it would “days rather than weeks”.
“I’m happy to say he is very much in our thoughts when it comes to the composition of our team in 2020,” he said.
The AFL is set to release a revised fixture in coming days following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
“My understanding is there will be some guidance on the fixture tomorrow,” Scott said.
