From what I understand, it’s not a severe injury if fixed and rehabbed correctly. The problem is allowing further damage to the meniscus which over time can become chronic. The kid was unlikely to play for the first half of the season so we have essentially four months to get him fixed and back to full fitness ready to play in the second half of the year where he was likely to debut anyway.
PS
I notice that very few people had Elijah in the 2023 Best 22 (plus sub). So it’s ok folks. Just relax. Nothing has really changed
The issue will be around fitness whrn he comes back. No running = limited fitness for AFL given its been suggested stamina has been the only real knock.
A shoulder would have at least let him run hard for a few months
While it’s disappointing and I initially panicked upon hearing the news it’s not the worst outcome.
I’m a Celtics fan and Rob Williams needed surgery for the same type of injury and was out for about 10-12 weeks and has recently started getting more game time and is looking better every game
The young lad will still have the second half of the season to make a impact so at least he can rehab for the rest of the pre season.
I was hoping you wouldn’t remind me of that. My heart bleeds for that lad but I take comfort in the knowledge that so many lanky sportsmen have suffered te same injury and comeback strongly once their bodies fill out a bit.
Typically you would try and avoid surgery for meniscal tears at all costs and pursue conservative treatment to avoid opening the knee up for accelerated arthritis/chronic pain down the line.
The fact they need to operate means its not as mild as you’d hope, but you still make good recoveries from what is generally a straightforward arthroscopic repair. Could be 6-8 or 10-12 depending on how his rehab goes, and if there was any other secondary damage to the joint.
All valid. The only issue is I wouldn’t move him into the AFL games unless the fitness guys a absolutely sure he is ready from a conditioning perspective. Don’t want an underdone first year kid playing his first games in the AFL and get totally overwhelmed because he can’t perform and have his confidence shot. If he was to play AFL games this year, then it should be towards the very backend once he has gotten a good level of VFL under his belt.
Biggest bummer here for me is that Elijah was already a ways back on his running fitness compared to where he needs to be.
This is only going to make that worse.
He was never playing in the first half of the year anyway, so lets hope hes good for the start of the VFL season and can spend the first few months improving his fitness and staying healthy.
All clubs go through injuries but it particularly hurts when more then half of your first round draft picks over the last few years have been injured alot.
Reid Cox and Now Elijah.
Fingers crossed all 3 can avoid anymore set backs. We certainly need it as a club.
They will operate on a player with a mild headache these days. I don’t think it speaks to the seriousness of the injury any more. If they can get a 10% gain by going under the knife, they do it.
he makes a speedy recovery