AFL finals injuries

[injuryupdate]

Finals medical room
30 August 2004 Herald Sun
Dr Peter Larkins

The Doc gives us the rundown on the diagnosis and prognosis of players gearing up for Week 1 of the finals.

Alastair Lynch (Brisbane)
Hamstring
I think it's the lower-level severity of hamstring injuries. But I still think it's going to cost him a couple of weeks, in the best case scenario.
Even if they do win, he's still not going to be available until at least the preliminary final.

Aaron Hamill (St Kilda)
Knee
They were using the scan to determine how much inflammation he had in his knee, in terms of any bone bruising to go with the jarring.
It depends on what reaction he gets from the knee over the next day or so.

Robert Harvey (St Kilda)
Hamstring
He would again be in doubt this weekend because of his age and, even if it's only tightness in the hamstring, the chances of it being an issue if he trains is quite high.
He would probably be on modified training during the week and be required to go through a fitness test even if it is only tightness.

Leigh Montagna (St Kilda)
Hamstring
It's a proper hamstring tear and he will miss three to four weeks.
You wouldn't expect him to return during the finals campaign.

Jason Johnson (Essendon)
Hamstring
He was out earlier this year with hamstring troubles, so it's not a good sign if it's truly a hamstring problem and not the Essendon flu.
It would be unusual only to miss one week if it's the same leg. If it's a different side and it's only tight, he might recover. But if it's the same leg, they wouldn't risk him.

David Neitz (Melbourne)
Calf
Calf injuries usually take two or three weeks to recover from a small tear, which is what he had.
He would be in considerable doubt for the first week of the finals.

Daniel Chick (West Coast)
Thigh
He had some swelling and bleeding into the same thigh that he suffered the bad cork in early this year when he needed surgery to release the pressure.
He was quite restricted when off the ground and, because of it being the second one and the bleeding troubles, I would think he's in doubt.

Daniel Kerr (West Coast)
Groin
It will depend how extensive it is.
He would need to train freely in the second half of the week to be considered for selection.

Jason Ball (Sydney) corked thigh, chance to play

Beau Waters (West Coast) quad strain, in doubt

[injuryupdate]

Lynch and Hamill to face critical fitness tests for Preliminary Finals
The Brisbane Lions and St. Kilda have key players in doubt for this weekend's knockout Preliminary Finals. Their medical teams will need to make or assist in highly difficult decisions about the fitness of key players. At stake is that a loss will end the season for the player and/or team, but that if the team wins but the player involved fails to complete the game, then he may miss a Grand Final berth. The Lions have two players in doubt with muscle strains (Alistair Lynch, hamstring and Clark Keating, calf). They are both at recovery stages where they may be able to complete the game but wouldn't be 100% recovered, meaning that perhaps there is no absolute right answer, but merely a question of how much gamble the team is willing to take. Read about the risk-reward equation with muscle strains (.pdf). In the St. Kilda scenario, the question with Aaron Hamill is slightly different but equally tough for the medical staff. Hamill has a posterior cruciate knee injury and is probably in a situation where left to his own ability to test his knee out that he may be unfit. However, the medical staff have the option to use local anaesthetic in his knee joint. Normally this course of action would not be considered as the knee is a joint where local anaesthetic is highly risky from a long-term viewpoint. However, the stakes may be high enough to risk long-term damage in such an important player. Brisbane took this course of action last year with Michael Voss.

[injuryupdate]

Looks like the teams basically got the decisions right to play the suspect guys in the Prelims. The pressure is now on the Lions for the GF though.