Buckley gone

[hhh]

Buckley injured after only playing limited match time. Seemed to grab the hammy, but the commentators said that Collingwood were looking at the front of his leg. You wouldn't believe Collingwood anyway. He had 7-8 weeks to recover from the initial injury so if it is hammy he may be gone. WIll be good to see Malthouse blow his stack when everyone asks him if they rushed Buckley back when he wasn't fit,particularly after the touch up they received.

[sydunisportsmed]

Buckley isn't really Collingwood's problem, it's that they don't have enough good other players to share the load around. It's inevitable that workhorse players are going to start getting degenerative injuries towards the end of their careers (and back-related hamstrings are to an extent degenerative IMO).

The biggest mystery at the moment seems to be how the h did Collingwood make two Grand Finals, given that there list seems pathetic. OK, Buckley was a gun and he is slowing down because of dodgy hamstrings. Can someone remind me when Rocca and Tarrant did something more each than take two good marks per game and kick 1.1 each for the day?

[Danny]

Some confirmation on what many knew had to be the case. Despite their brave face after the first round the Magpies have conceded.. Buckley is struggling.

Buckley out 'indefinitely'
12:53:21 PM Wed 30 March, 2005
Matt Burgan
Sportal for afl.com.au

Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley is set to be sidelined indefinitely with a debilitating hamstring injury.

Buckley, one of Collingwood's greatest ever players and a six-time Copeland Trophy winner, has been hindered by the problem since last season.

A winner of the 2003 Brownlow Medal, Buckley played just one match from rounds four to 11 in 2004, before he reinjured his hamstring during the 2005 pre-season period.

But he returned for Collingwood's season opener against the Western Bulldogs last Sunday, yet was unable to finish out the match.

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Buckley did not play the final quarter of his side's 32-point loss to the Bulldogs and was reportedly under instruction from Collingwood's medical staff not to return to the ground.

According to the club, Buckley had passed every benchmark in relation to rehabilitation from his injury. But under match-day pressure, he was unable to reach and maintain 100 per cent intensity.

Buckley's injury is primarily caused by a chronic scar tissue problem and the club is exploring all avenues to rectify the problem and is confident the 2002 Norm Simth Medallist will make a full recovery from the injury.

Along with Buckley, Collingwood is missing key players Josh Fraser (4-6 weeks) and Guy Richards (two weeks) with knee injuries and Alan Didak (two weeks) with a thigh problem.

[injuryupdate]

Have to give hhh top marks here for declaring about 36 hours before Collingwood did that Buckley was gone and had re-injured his hamstring. We called it too on Monday night:
Appeared to re-injure his dodgy hamstring and it would be a surprise to see him back next week, irrespective of what the Magpies say.

Having said all of that, he should play again this year. Collingwood might be 3 games out of the eight by the time he gets back though.

[Danny]

Buckley: on the mend
9:28:14 PM Thu 31 March, 2005
Clinton Bown
Exclusive to collingwoodfc.com.au

Nathan Buckley has successfully undergone surgery to repair a split tendon at the base of his hamstring.

The Collingwood captain went under the surgeon's knife on Thursday evening after deciding with club medical officials earlier in the day that surgery was needed to remove a build up of scar tissue around his troublesome hamstring.

The build up of scar tissue had developed as a consequence of previous injuries, and had limited the Collingwood captain's ability to perform at full throttle, forcing him to sit out the last quarter of the season opener against the Western Bulldogs on Easter Monday.

Collingwood's football operations manager, Neil Balme, despite having obvious concerns about the health of his player, was pleased at the outcome of the surgery.

"It was an unexpected find in a sense, but having found the root of the problem the surgeon is confident that he will make a full recovery."

Balme went on to explain: "The surgeon found a large tendon split at the bottom of the hamstring.

"The split had been held together by muscle scar tissue and needed to be repaired.

"Going into the surgery they hadn't expected to find this. However, it goes a long way to explaining his condition."

The successful surgery ends days of speculation surrounding the immediate future of the Collingwood captain, who will remain in hospital tonight.

"It is still too early to set a date in terms of when Nathan will make a return, but we are much more positive about his future."

[hhh]

I can't take all the credit, the injury stood out like dogs balls in the match. Likely recovery post surgery - are we talking goodbye 2005, see you in 2006 Nathan? Rare surgery, do you have any ideas on success rate. The finding may shut up all the gurus that have been piping up all over the place reckoning they had the magic to fix. Can we point the finger at the medicos for not indentifying the injury earlier or via the 100 or so MRI's that have been taken to date? Other question how come he can look a million dollars at a 2 hour training session but can't last 5 minutes in a match? Is that a problem with fitness testing that the player and thier injury may be fatigued significantly from the test that they can't back up for a match? Interesting that his contract expires this year and at best he would have 2 more years after this one. He is probably already on the senior list so I don't think cost cutting would be an issue plus I imagine an uprising from the Collingwood ferals would save him.

Makes Malthouse look like a goose when he rabbited on all last week that Buckley was 100% fit and he had full confidence in the medical staff.

[Danny]

Buckley likely to return against Swans
June 8, 2005 - 6:44PM
SMH

Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley is likely to make his AFL return against Sydney on June 25.

After coach Mick Malthouse said on radio that Buckley was "a chance" to return next Monday, football manager Neil Balme hosed down the speculation.

Buckley trained strongly again, but the Magpies are unlikely to play him in Monday's Queens Birthday match against Melbourne.

He needed surgery after round one because of a hamstring tendon tear.

"We'd be more likely to be conservative than take a risk at this stage," said Balme.

"It's a very significant part of his career now to actually come back and play.

"He has trained really well."

The mid-season break means Collingwood will have a week off between the Melbourne and Sydney matches.

Balme added it was "pretty unlikely" that Buckley would play for Collingwood's VFL affiliate Williamstown this weekend.

Malthouse told SEN that the club did not want to push Buckley too quickly.

"What we don't want to do at his age is have a finality on a training track ... stretch him to the limit and he breaks down and we don't see him again," he said.