Geelong VFL captain James Byrne could be back within a month after scans yesterday revealed his thumb injury would not need to be pinned as originally thought.

Byrne fractured the base of his thumb, know as a Bennett’s fracture, in the second half of Geelong’s 34-point loss to Coburg at the MCG on Saturday.

Initial diagnosis suggested Byrne would need to have a pin inserted to mould the bone back together, resulting in up to two months on the sidelines.

But the 30-year-old could return to the field as early as round 10 against Bendigo after having a plate inserted into his hand today.

An optimistic Byrne, who had battled niggling knee and ankle injuries this season, said the month-long layoff would enable him to prime his body for the run home to the finals.

“You’ve got to get some positives out of it and I’m not too disappointed with the length of the injury,” Byrne said last night.

“It’s going to be a good time to actually get my body right and be right for the back end of the season, which is always the most important part of the year, to make sure we come home pretty strong.

“Hopefully it will allow me to get my knee and my ankle all right as well, so that’s the positive out of a negative.”

The injury will prevent Byrne from captaining the VFL in next weekend’s state representative match against the SANFL.

Byrne, who has played the last six state matches, conceded the injury had probably denied him his final chance to captain Victoria in the hard-fought state-of-origin matches.

The 30-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season, would have to wait until 2010 to get the opportunity again, with WAFL and SANFL playing in next year’s state match.

“It’s disappointing not to play in that team again, because we don’t get that opportunity next year,” Byrne said.

“With me being 30 years of age and being towards the end of my career, it might have been the last time I got to have that opportunity, which is disappointing.

“But the main thing is to get myself right to get back for Geelong VFL and for rest of the home and away season, so I can perform for the footy club.”

The injury will be Byrne’s first prolonged injury setback since joining Geelong’s VFL team for the 2004 season after stints at Adelaide, Sydney, South Fremantle and Glenelg.

In a remarkable run, Byrne has only missed two VFL matches through injury over five seasons at the Cats.

“It’s the way footy is, coming off a decent year last year and not having too many injuries, footy’s the sort of game that will always even things out,” he said.

“I’m not too disappointed, it’s part of what happens, I’ve got to stay positive and hopefully I’ll come back and feel just as good, or probably better than what I was.

“I’m looking forward to getting myself right and getting back out there.”

Geelong VFL coach Leigh Tudor said Byrne’s good diagnoses was great news for his team, which plays North Ballarat on Sunday this weekend at Austar Arena in Ballarat.

“He’ll probably miss three or four weeks now, so that’s a much better result than we first thought,” Tudor said.

Meanwhile, Tudor said the Cats’ injury card revealed positive news after they emerged from Saturday’s loss to Coburg with an unusually high number of injuries.

David Johnson, who came off with glut soreness, pulled up strongly and was yesterday cleared of a tear and is a near-certain starter this week.

Kane Tenace emerged without too much discomfort him a potential knee-ligament injury and should be right to play this weekend, provided he gets through Saturday’s final training session.

Rookie-listed Brodie Moles left the ground after sustaining an ankle injury, but Tudor said the youngster should be right for this weekend’s match.

“It’s a great result, especially Kane and David, who have been really good defenders for us this year,” Tudor said.