Oh Crap! AJ injury.

[replicant]

Don't know if we need to hit the panic button and send LRT back just yet. A lot of sides only have two real talls, so Richards and Grundy can cover them. If we need LRT he's there, but we still have Mattner who can cover a mid-sizer, and Armstrong and Rampe have showed a bit.

Rather than throwing LRT down back, i'd hope they would give Armstrong and Rampe an oppotunity for more game time and to get used to their role in the backline. If they are getting monstered in any game, then LRT can always shift back and cover them. We need to give the kids more game time to get them ready if more inuries hit. While pushing LRT back might patch the immediate hole, it just leaves a bigger one if we run into any more injuries.

 

[Thai Hawk]

Hate preseason, serious injuries to anyone. Hope they go the traditional fix as there is not enough known about LARS long term and he is such a talented young kid.

Goodluck to AJ for his recovery and I hope to see him playing for many years.

 

[GoTheSwannies]

Don't know if we need to hit the panic button and send LRT back just yet. A lot of sides only have two real talls, so Richards and Grundy can cover them. If we need LRT he's there, but we still have Mattner who can cover a mid-sizer, and Armstrong and Rampe have showed a bit.

Rather than throwing LRT down back, i'd hope they would give Armstrong and Rampe an oppotunity for more game time and to get used to their role in the backline. If they are getting monstered in any game, then LRT can always shift back and cover them. We need to give the kids more game time to get them ready if more inuries hit. While pushing LRT back might patch the immediate hole, it just leaves a bigger one if we run into any more injuries.

I Think that's a pretty good point. With injury comes opportunity, and we're in a position where we can have armstrong or one of the other young guys come in to get some exposure. I'd like to believe Lrt is the ace up our sleeve, if teddy / Grundy were to go down or if we were approaching finals I'd reassess the situation, but ideally we'd like to develop our depth, particularly since we traded out some experienced depth players last year.

 

[baja]

Driving home from the coast today listening to SEN, they were talking about the injuries in the comp so far.. it was Suckling this, Suckling that, Hawthorn this, Hawthorn that.. then a 2 second mention of Swans player Alwin Johnston.. Imbeciles

 

[scottwade]

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-sport/swans-johnson-delays-knee-op-call-20130311-2fweg.html

Sydney AFL premiership defender Alex Johnson will spend the next week weighing up whether to try to save his season by having a synthetic graft to repair his serious knee injury.
The Swans have confirmed Johnson, who played every game last year for the club including the grand final, ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in Saturday night's pre-season clash with Gold Coast.
The 21-year-old now has to decide whether to have a traditional knee reconstruction, which would almost certainly wipe him out for the year, or opt for the LARS method, involving a synthetic graft.

 

[RUNVS]

Driving home from the coast today listening to SEN, they were talking about the injuries in the comp so far.. it was Suckling this, Suckling that, Hawthorn this, Hawthorn that.. then a 2 second mention of Swans player Alwin Johnston.. Imbeciles

How can they not know who he is. FFS he had a good game in the Grand Final.

I also get the strong impression that Nick Smith is someone that 90% of AFL fans would have never heard of even though he is one of the best players in the league at shutting down dangerous small forwards.

 

[Sanecow]

Without knowing what will happen between now and round 12, I would be happy to plan LRT moving to defense and White, Everitt, Morton, Mummy or whoever forward until Tippett comes in.

 

[Tedeski]

How can they not know who he is. FFS he had a good game in the Grand Final.

I also get the strong impression that Nick Smith is someone that 90% of AFL fans would have never heard of even though he is one of the best players in the league at shutting down dangerous small forwards.

Good!

The less the f..ckers know about us the better!

It worked a treat in last years GF. We threw the good old fashioned sucker punch.

Let them fall for it again.

I'm hopefull that Jesse Smith finally takes his chance after almost being traded to the Crows.

Robert Lewis Thompson should be an adequate replacement for Lewis Johnson down back.

.................and....................the son of rugby great Gary Jack makes a wonderful captain for marketing purposes in a rugby market.

Nick Smith should make a huge improvement in his second year!

No freekin idea!

 

[GoTheSwannies]

How can they not know who he is. FFS he had a good game in the Grand Final.

I also get the strong impression that Nick Smith is someone that 90% of AFL fans would have never heard of even though he is one of the best players in the league at shutting down dangerous small forwards.

Well in people's defence, you only really notice a defender when they stuff up (hence everyone knows who Grundy is... sorry, low blow I know). Particularly for small forwards/defenders, if the defender's doing a good job, then both the small forward and defender are relatively anonymous. And lets face it, it's not as if nick smith has a distinctive name or look, everything about him goes against being noticed.

He's one of the players my fiancé rarely notices, once in a while she'll spot him. This is the nature of our conversations regarding Nick Smith:

Her: who's that?
Me:Nick Smith
Her: how come I've never noticed him before
Me: Because he's doing his job

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

.................and....................the son of rugby great Gary Jack makes a wonderful captain for marketing purposes in a rugby market.

Love it!

Despite not caring two hoots about League or Union, having grown up in NSW it still jars when I see Mexicans referring to League as "Rugby".

 

[Vandyy]

Hey guys, I was thinking about AJ's situation while at work today and was hoping someone could answer a couple of questions.

Can anyone tell me the disadvantage of LARs over the traditional knee reconstruction? I'm just wondering which would be better for AJ and what factors he needs to weigh up when making his decision.

I'm assuming that hes going to go on the long-term injury list with the possibility of Rampe being 'elevated'? If that happened what would the effect be on Rampe if AJ then decided on LARs and was back before the end of the season?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Sketi]

Don't know if we need to hit the panic button and send LRT back just yet. A lot of sides only have two real talls, so Richards and Grundy can cover them. If we need LRT he's there, but we still have Mattner who can cover a mid-sizer, and Armstrong and Rampe have showed a bit.

Rather than throwing LRT down back, i'd hope they would give Armstrong and Rampe an oppotunity for more game time and to get used to their role in the backline. If they are getting monstered in any game, then LRT can always shift back and cover them. We need to give the kids more game time to get them ready if more inuries hit. While pushing LRT back might patch the immediate hole, it just leaves a bigger one if we run into any more injuries.

Level headed post. Sending LRT back would be some what of a knee jerk reaction at this stage, especially given our fixture during our first 2 rounds.

 

[landers]

Just been reading article on Morabito about Hybrid Lars surgery quicker recovery than normal reco and longer lasting than a standard LARS. Hopefully Johnson's injury has option of this type of surgery as well might see him back midyear with less long term risk than normal LARS. Also good see Malceski passing on his experience of LARS to other players.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-03-13/lars-premium-for-morabito

 

[scottwade]

Hey guys, I was thinking about AJ's situation while at work today and was hoping someone could answer a couple of questions.

Can anyone tell me the disadvantage of LARs over the traditional knee reconstruction? I'm just wondering which would be better for AJ and what factors he needs to weigh up when making his decision.

I'm assuming that hes going to go on the long-term injury list with the possibility of Rampe being 'elevated'? If that happened what would the effect be on Rampe if AJ then decided on LARs and was back before the end of the season?

Thanks in advance!

Here's an article (from March 2012) by Dr Peter Larkins regarding LARS v a traditional knee reco.
It doesn't mention the 'LARS premium' landers references above.
http://www.drpeterlarkins.com/2012/03/lars-ligament-surgery-why-all-the-fuss/

In relation to the LTIL if a player is elevated to the senior list in place of an injured player he stays on the list until the player replaced is ready to resume playing (in our case either in the NEAFL or AFL).
The injured player must be off the list for a minimum if 8 weeks.

Once the injured player returns his replacement drops off the list, however if Rampe were to replace AJ and AJ returned mid season there would be the option of naming Rampe as a 'nominated rookie'.

If a club has less than 40 senior/primary list players (as we do) then a rookie can be upgraded prior to Round 1 and another can be upgraded from halfway through the season. They are known as 'nominated rookies'.

So Rampe could be upgraded as a 'nominated rookie' prior to RD1. Alternatively he could be a replacement for a player on the LTIL (AJ or Rohan) and if need be (if the player he replaces comes off the LTIT) be a mid-season 'nominated rookie' upgrade.
I believe there are salary cap advantages in using the LTIL, rather than the 'nominated rookie' route. In the case of Rampe being a LTIL replacement his salary would not be included in the cap, I think it would be if were a 'nominated rookie'.

The RD 1 option must be taken up prior that round or you lose that opportunity.
My understanding is that the mid-season option remains open until late in the season (but must be activated by a cut-off date, which is definitely prior to the finals).

tldr; Rampe, if he is upgraded, should be fine to stay on the senior list until the end of the season, even allowing for AJ's return,if we so desire (assuming our salary cap isn't extraordinarily tight).

 

[Vandyy]

Thanks Scott.

That article was very informative as well, after reading it I'm now hoping that the knee doesn't become a reoccuring problem for AJ, whatever option he chooses.

 

[yoshi2284]

this could prompt tommy walsh finding a home in the backline. our next ted richards.

 

[SM]

I was so sure AJ would be a 300 game player for us the way he was tracking over his first two seasons. So worrying to see an ACL injury at that age as you just need to look at Eski to see how it can derail careers.

 

[robbieando]

I was so sure AJ would be a 300 game player for us the way he was tracking over his first two seasons. So worrying to see an ACL injury at that age as you just need to look at Eski to see how it can derail careers.

Yeah Eski is a good casepoint, but he didn't holddown his spot until after his 3rd season, AJ got to that point after his first season. AJ has time and a Premiership medal on his side that Malceski didn't have and what made Malceski go down the LARS path.

 

[Danair]

Opting for a traditional knee reco.

 

[DeadlyAkkuret]

I'm relieved.

 

[ShaySwannies]

Probably the right option first up. If he were to do it again, that's when you seriously consider the LARS

 

[Dangas]

It is devo, but he'll bounce back!

 

[GotTheGoodes]

Probably the right option first up. If he were to do it again, that's when you seriously consider the LARS

Exactly what I was thinking. No point in trying to rush him back. Give him as long as is required. He is so bloody important for our future I'd hate this to cruel him anymore than it already has.