I will agree if we were given information from an expert with knowledge of the case it would lead us to being able to make some judgement. What evidence do you have to draw your conclusions.
Taking Freeman as an example, let us utilise the facts we have seen or been informed of by the Club:
Fact 1: 12 February 2014: Freeman injures his hamstring in pre-season game.
Report from the Collingwood website:
Broomhead broke a bone in his hand, while Freeman – the club's first-round draft pick from 2013 – injured his hamstring.
"We'll see how they go, but they'll be missing three to four (weeks) each, probably," Magpies coach Nathan Buckley said after the game.
Expected return date: 12 March 2014.
Fact 2: Hamstring injuries are classed in three categories (grades 1 - 3) [http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/90881-overview].
Freeman's hamstring injury was assessed by Collingwood and Buckley informed us that the estimated recovery time would be in the vicinity of one month.
In respect of hamstring injuries there is a consensus from medical experts of the length of time for recovery of each grade of tear: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/pulled_hamstring/page5_em.htm#pulled_hamstring_treatment
"Grade 1 or 2 injuries may require no further therapy and over a few weeks the pulled hamstring should gradually improve and return to normal function.
It may take a few weeks to recover from a hamstring strain, but if symptoms persist, physical therapy may be recommended. Uncommonly, surgery may be required to repair grade 3 strains that have damaged significant amounts of muscle and tendon."
Given that Buckley informed us, after receiving the assessment from Collingwood, that Freeman was "missing three to four weeks" a judgment can be drawn that it was not a Grade 3 strain/tear.
Fact 3: Freeman did not play a single AFL/VFL match all season.
So, the conclusion that can be drawn from these facts is simply that Collingwood either:
- initially incorrectly assessed the extent of Freeman's original injury; or
- through mistreatment or mismanagement caused a recurrence of the injury.