Matt Rogers injury

[injuryupdate]

The Matt Rogers injury highlights the risks taken by professional teams in this day and age and the scrutiny that is put on medical management. Rogers came off on the Medicab in a Friday night game and the following morning the plane was already booked for South Africa (for players and medical staff). Perhaps without the standard medical assessment of his injury (scans, specialist opinions) Rogers was taken to South Africa, and after playing in the second game of the tour, but failing to get through the match, the injury was discovered to be worse than the original prognosis suggested. Rogers even was writing about the diagnosis and management of his injury from South Africa in a newspaper column. Questions are obviously being asked about why he was taken to South Africa in the first place, as opposed to staying in Sydney and having the injury assessed. It is a big difference from the old days when it basically would have been - Matt Rogers injured and out for the season, end of story.

[injuryupdate]

Waratahs' fullback Matt Rogers limped off the field in the second half of the Super 12 match against the Bulls with an ongoing injury to his ankle syndesmosis (pictured left). This injury is known as a 'high ankle sprain', in which the syndesmosis ligament between the two shin bones (tibia and fibula) is disrupted. An ankle arthroscope (pictured right) revealed a grade 3 separation of the two ankle bones in Rogers' case, which required a screw to stabilise the bones, putting Rogers out for the remainder of the rugby season. Even lesser grades of this injury takes far longer to heal than a standard ankle ligament sprain. Trent Barrett of the Dragons last season and Shannon Hegarty of the Roosters (on the Kangaroo Tour) have suffered grade 3 injuries that have required screws recently. Very occasionally, these injuries can be career-ending, usually in association with fractures of the fibula. Geelong's Jason Snell was forced to retire with this type of injury a couple of seasons ago. Roosters hooker Craig Wing currently has a low grade syndesmosis sprain which will hopefully recover in 4-6 weeks without requiring surgery.