No shoulder reconstruction for Galuvao

[Danny]

Has decided that good physio rehab will be good enough.....a risk or good medical management?

Galuvao fit to shoulder load
By Cameron Bell
November 28, 2004
FOX SPORTS

PENRITH second-rower Joe Galuvao has been cleared to start next year's league season after arthroscopic surgery last Tuesday revealed his troublesome shoulder did not require a reconstruction.

"The doctor sat me down beforehand and said the worst-case scenario was that I would require a shoulder reconstruction and be out for at least six months," Galuvao said yesterday.

"My shoulder had been slipping in and out and I wasn't that confident, but when they went in there, they found I had a bit of damage to the ligaments and the rotator cuff.

"So the doc is confident that with the right physio and rehab, I'll be fine to start the year."

Galuvao injured his shoulder in the Panthers' final-round game this year against Brisbane and took the injury into the play-offs.

He then injured his ankle in the Panthers' one-point victory over St George Illawarra, a game in which he also took the field with rib cartilage damage.

Galuvao was one of a number of Panthers players who required off-season surgery.

His second-row partner Tony Puletua had ankle surgery and Preston Campbell groin surgery, while Craig Gower also faces possible groin surgery when he returns from the Tri-Nations tour.

Such a casualty list has prompted coach John Lang to again question the value of such a long season and the workload the elite players are being asked to endure.

"Look, I think the Tri-Nations is a great concept but maybe it's best left to be played every second year," Lang said. "At the moment, I just think we are killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

"Luke Rooney's season, for example, started in the north of England in early February and it's ending in the north of England in late November.

"I think we're putting too many demands on players and eventually, with so many demands, they are going to crack after a very, very long season."

[injuryupdate]

Definitely this is risk management stuff. However, most of the time the surgeon in this scenario will go on whether he can pop the shoulder out of its socket while it is on the table with the player knocked out by the anaesthetic. If he can only sublux it half out but not fully pull the whole joint out of the socket, chances are that the player won't let it happen when he is awake.

A reco might tighten the joint up even more and make subluxations less likely, but if done now, the player is out until probably mid-late May. For an injury that if it recurs (subluxations) often won't keep the player out, both the player and club will be happy the surgeon didn't proceed with a reco.

Obviously it could pop completely out in round 1 and make it look like the wrong decision. But most of the time the top surgeons and top club doctors get it right (along with help from the physios and fitness gurus). The reason why they are working at the top is that they can handle the pressure of these big decisions.

[injuryupdate]

On the 'season is too long issue' I agree with John Lang.

If you make everyone wait two years for the Tri-Nations, then it will be quite exciting when it comes around next time.

If you play it again next year, there will be 3 or 4 clubs (at a guess Broncos, Dogs, Roosters and Panthers) that might have had elite players go terrible in the first half of 2005, that will instruct their players to pull out of the Tri-Nations in 2005 to have a rest at the end of the season. It is pretty easy to do, as there aren't many players who couldn't find an operation they need at an opportune time if they want to fail the medical.

Last year the Kangaroo tour was a boring one that didn't pull good crowds because 17 of the best players pulled out. This year they got the top players to generally all go, and the matches were much better. However, if they put it on again next year, something will give.

Better to have the fans screaming for more, than the players and fans screaming next year that the tour is a joke after another 20 elite guys pull out in advance.