Warrnambool Seahawks coach Alex Gynes ruptures achilles in Big V game

The in-form coach - he sat second in the Big V division one competition for both points for and rebounds - ruptured his achilles in the opening stages of Saturday night's loss to Bellarine Storm.

He visited a surgeon in Melbourne on Tuesday and expects to go under the knife next week.

"I will be in a cast for two weeks, a moon boot for three months and then will try and get moving from there," Gynes told The Standard.

"This would be the longest and worst one (injury) I have had and the longest recovery by a country mile."

Gynes said he had mixed emotions as he was "as healthy as I've been and as fit as I've been in a long time".

"I am in a funny spot, being a coach and a player," he said. "I am shattered as a player to be honest, given I feel like I've had a reasonable start to the year and I was enjoying and playing well.

"It is hard to swallow but at the same time my focus kinds of shifts now and I have to rally the group.

"As hard as it is, there's a lot of opportunities to come from it for others now."

Gynes, who was averaging 27 points a game, had scored four points in two minutes against the Storm before he was injured.

"It was innocuous really, there was no one else around me and I stepped forward to get a loose ball," he said.

"I thought it was a bit of a myth that you think someone has kicked you in the back of the leg but I legitimately thought someone kicked me in the back of the leg. I ended up getting the ball.

"Pain went up the back of my leg and I tried to shake it off with an extra step and it hit me then.

"It was very innocuous - compared to how you start and stop in basketball, I probably cross the road quicker than how I actually did it."

Gynes is grateful he could get surgery booked in Melbourne within a quick time-frame.

"Toby Pettigrew from Warrnambool Physio is the first person I called while the game was still on - my wife (Nicole) was the second phone call," he said.

"Toby has been great. He pointed me in the right direction. I went straight to the Epworth Hospital and it rolled on from there and to sneak into the surgeon, get the scans looked at and get it sorted, has put me at ease in tough circumstances."

Warrnambool Seahawks, who dropped their two games on the road after losing Gynes to injury, will host Shepparton Gators at the Arc at 7.30pm on Saturday.

Gynes will coach from the bench but is unsure if he will miss games after his surgery.

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