Lloyd snapped a tendon in his hand and the nature of the injury ensured his rehabilitation would be anything but ideal. The hand injury restricted his ability to do weights and ball work while running was also restricted in the early weeks. The Bombers missed him on the ground but the problem was that his awkward rehabilitation meant there was no guarantee he would be the force he was prior to getting injured.
Lloyd did kick five goals against the Western Bulldogs when he finally returned to football but both onlookers and Lloyd himself felt he was short of his best – physically and mentally the injury had taken its toll. So the challenges have been laid at his feet as we close in on season 2003. This pre-season has been as important as any Lloyd has done in his career and he is attacking it with renewed enthusiasm.
“Obviously I missed nine or 10 weeks last season because of the injury and I felt when I came back that I lacked a bit of strength - I couldn’t do weights while I was out. But I also felt that my pace and touch dropped off a bit because I wasn’t running or doing ball work either,” Lloyd said this week.
“So that has given me a fair bit to work on during this pre-season and it is one of the reasons I chose to do the running elective and run at meetings like the Rye Gift. I just want to make sure that my speed is where it needs to be. There are a lot of smaller, running full backs nowadays. Gone are the days of the Lockett-type full forward – they will try and catch you off guard and run you down the ground so you need to be able to handle that.”
“I’d had a couple of good years leading into last season. Things didn’t go perfectly so you sit down and look at where you need to get better and speed and strength are the areas I identified.”
The good news for Essendon fans is that Lloyd's hand is as good as new and he has attacked the ball with confidence during the skill's sessions.
“The hand is fine and I won’t have to have it taped next season. I think it will help my confidence a bit when it comes to goalkicking. I was a bit wayward when I came back – the year before was my best accuracy wise and I would like to get back to that. The last three or four rounds last season I was having eight or nine shots for goal and only kicking three or four goals. Hopefully I will still get those opportunities but I want to make better use of them,” Lloyd said.
Tomorrow Matthew Lloyd takes a look at the pressures on the Essendon team as a whole and how important it is that the team's younger players stand up and be counted in 2003.
